


Family Is Where You Find It

by RedRowan



Series: The Boxer's Daughter [10]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 01, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bisexual Female Character, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Female Matt Murdock, Lesbian Character of Color, Pregnancy, Rule 63, Season/Series 01, The Defenders (Marvel TV) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-02 01:16:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13307325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRowan/pseuds/RedRowan
Summary: An earthquake shakes New York.  An architect goes missing.  And Mattie's ex-girlfriend comes back from the dead.Just a normal couple of days for a pregnant semi-retired vigilante, an alcoholic PI, a bulletproof ex-con, and a billionaire living weapon.





	1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

**Author's Note:**

> It's here! The mega-Defenders fic that's been kicking my ass since September! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this series, and those of you who said you were looking forward to this one.
> 
> Yes, the chapter titles are all Rolling Stones songs. :)

“This shirt doesn’t fit me anymore, does it?”

Mattie puts her hands on her hips so Foggy can see the problem.

“Uh, no,” he says. “I can totally see your bra.”

“Shit.” She unbuttons the blouse, feeling the release of the fabric that was stretched over her breasts. “I don’t have anything to wear.”

“A t-shirt?”

“I’m not going to wear a t-shirt in court.”

“You could keep your jacket buttoned?”

“My jacket doesn’t button over my boobs.”

She’s been putting off buying maternity clothing ever since the Jacobs family was referred to her; with only Malcolm and Becca around to help her prepare the case (neither of whom have any legal experience), she just hasn’t had time. But her pregnancy keeps advancing at its own rate, and the procrastination is biting her in the ass. Her ass, which now has an additional inch or two in width, making her skirt ride higher on her waist. And her breasts, which are threatening to burst out of any button-down shirt she owns.

Which is how she winds up winning eleven million dollars in damages while wearing one of Foggy’s shirts, carefully pinned in at the back, under her open blazer. When the verdict comes down, it’s almost like having him next to her.

Karen offers to take her out for a late lunch to celebrate.

“Oh! I do have something for you…” Karen rummages around in her bag until she’s pushing something soft into Mattie’s hand; it’s about the size of her hand, pear-shaped, made of a few different fabrics. She can feel a smiley face embroidered on one side.

“It’s an avocado,” Karen says. “Because, you know, I found that website that tells you what size the baby is,” Karen says, “and actually, around now, it’s about the size of an avocado, and I remembered Foggy making that joke about -“

“Avocados at law,” Mattie says, with only a small pang.

“Mattie, congratulations!” comes a new voice. ADA Kirsten McDuffie, Foggy’s co-worker.

“On the baby, or the verdict?” Mattie says. She hasn’t spoken to Kirsten since she and Foggy announced her pregnancy.

“Oh, I mean the verdict, but the baby too! Oh, is that for it?” Kirsten is pointing at the plush avocado.

“Karen just gave it to me.”

“It’s so cute!”

“Kirsten, maybe you can help me out - does it look like more of a Sonia or a Thurgood?”

“Of _course_ you two are going to name your baby’s toys after Supreme Court Justices,” Karen says dryly.

“And it’s never too early to learn about the United States judicial system,” Mattie says.

“Of course it’s not,” Karen says.

“I second that!” Kirsten says. “And it’s definitely a Sonia.”

Mattie’s good mood buoys her through her lunch with Karen, where she insists on Sonia the Avocado sitting on the table. She tucks the little plush toy into her jacket pocket on her way home, and runs her fingers over the soft surface as she takes the elevator to the fifth floor. When she opens the door to Jessica’s apartment, she’s greeted by Malcolm and Becca’s congratulations, but no Jessica.

“Thanks, guys,” she says, sitting on the couch. She slips off her shoes and lets her feet stretch. “Becca, could you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Can you follow Aaron Jacobs on Facebook? I’m just worried about him, and I wouldn’t mind someone keeping an eye on him.”

“You realize nobody uses Facebook anymore, right?” Becca says with all the world-weariness of her seventeen years.

“Whatever social media platform you young people use.”

“Watch it, you’re going to start calling them ‘whippersnappers’ anytime now,” Malcolm says.

“Instagram,” Becca says, not even bothering to add the “duh” on the end.

“I am aware that that is a thing that exists,” Mattie says.

Becca sighs and starts tapping on her phone. “I’ll find his account,” she says.

“So, Jess isn’t here?” Mattie says, turning her face to Malcolm.

“She got a case -“ Malcolm starts.

“Oh, my God, it was so cool!” Becca says, her phone forgotten.

“You might have missed some of the excitement,” Malcolm says, a little more calmly.

“So, the client and her daughter showed up without an appointment, and say that her husband’s missing,” Becca says. “Jess _obviously_ thinks this is a cheating thing, but we get a phone call right in the middle of the meeting, and it was just like in the movies, you know, when the bad guy calls in, but doesn’t want you to know…”

“They were using a voice scrambler,” Malcolm translates.

“And they were all like, ‘Jessica Jones, don’t look for John Raymond.’” Becca drops her voice, imitating a bass range.

“What, seriously?” Mattie says.

“Like, exactly like that,” Becca says.

Mattie sits back. “So, either someone knows Jess _really_ well, or doesn’t know her at all.”

“We’re going with the second one,” Malcolm says. “Jess got the call traced to a pay phone at 49th and 11th. There’s a whole bunch of shady shit - sorry, Becca - around there, she’s gone to check it out.”

“Huh.”

“Oh, and Claire called,” Becca says. “She didn’t want to call your cell because she knew you were in court. But she wanted you to know that Luke got in OK.”

“Thanks. Does she want me to call her?”

“Yeah.”

“OK. I’m going to go do that. You guys know where I am if you need me. Becca, don’t forget about the Instagram thing.”

“On it.”

She doesn’t change out of her suit once she gets upstairs, but she sighs with relief when she can finally massage her feet. One more thing for the shopping list: a pair of comfortable court-appropriate shoes.

Pregnancy is the _worst_.

“I take it things went well?” Foggy says sleepily from the bedroom. He’s still on night shifts, so he sleeps during the day.

“Eleven million dollars worth of well,” she says.

That actually stops Foggy in his tracks for a moment, before he climbs out of bed and goes to her, kissing her forehead.

“You did good, kitten,” he says.

“I hope so,” she says.

“We should have dinner.”

“As opposed to not having dinner?”

“A _nice_ dinner. In a restaurant.”

She smiles. “That sounds great. Go back to sleep, sweetheart, I’ll wake you up.”

He pats her hair absently and stumbles back to bed. She washes her hands and puts her feet up on the loveseat as she calls Claire.

“Hi. Heard about your big win,” Claire says.

“Yeah, it was pretty great. Becca told me you called. How’s Luke doing?”

“He’s…good. Really…good…” There’s something in Claire’s voice that says that she’s hiding something.

“And you? Are you two OK?”

“What? Oh, yeah, we’re better than OK. We’re pretty…I mean…” Claire chuckles a little. “Yeah…” Claire isn’t usually this evasive.

“What’d you guys do?” Mattie says. “Bet he’s got a whole list of things he wants to do.”

“Oh, we got coffee.” That seems to be the end of that sentence.

“OK? Is he there? I wouldn’t mind saying hi.”

“Misty Knight stopped by, said she wanted to show him something. He’s probably off trying to save Harlem from Mariah Dillard by now.”

“Wow. He’s even worse than I am.”

“I’m going to pretend you never said that. But anyway, he’s supposed to be staying with me, so I was thinking you and Foggy should come up for dinner, or something. You know, a double date.”

“That actually sounds pretty fun.”

“I’ll see what’s going on with him, and I’ll give you a call. But, maybe next week?”

“Sounds good.”

As she hangs up, she remembers to take Sonia the Avocado out of her jacket pocket. She holds the soft little thing in her hands and wonders how long until the baby can pronounce “avocado.” Or “Sonia,” for that matter. She raises the toy to her nose and breathes deep; right now, it smells of Karen’s purse: gunpowder, remnants of ink from a spilled pen, residue from her lavender hand cream, the spicy burn of mace, the tiny particles of powder that escaped from Karen’s makeup kit. Those scents will fade in a few days. She imagines what the toy might smell like in a year, in two, in ten, being loved and worn down, taking on the scent of its owner.

She sinks to the ground, folding her legs under her, trying to find her center.

_It’s just hormones._

The mind controls the body. Except her body is out of control.

She stretches out her senses, focussing on Foggy, snoring and fast asleep. Home.

She lets time wash over her, counted in heartbeats, until she stands up and goes to the bedroom to wake Foggy.

“What were you thinking for dinner?” she says.

A year ago, they would have gotten a recommendation from Pam, who always knew the best places to eat. But Pam’s moved back to Chicago, running from her own tragedy, and Mattie misses her as Foggy suggests they try a place that just opened up in Murray Hill. The waiter is flummoxed as to how to serve Mattie, and she winds up having to explain pretty much everything to him. In between giving the waiter ADA training, she tells Foggy about the day in court.

“I’m so proud of you,” he says, utterly sincere. “Like, not just because we can totally tell the baby that it was there when its mom won eleven million dollars in damages. But you…I know…it’s been hard for you. Being…on mat leave. And it’s…”

“It’s what?”

“You’re still a hero,” he says, almost blurts out. “You know that, right?”

_You know that, right?_

Daredevil can help people _before_ they get hurt. All Mattie Murdock can do is help them pick up the pieces after.

She can’t tell Foggy that. She doesn’t.

They walk home across town with Foggy’s arm around her shoulders. The baby’s heart thrums contentedly inside her.

She hears the animals first. Dogs barking, cats meowing and hissing. Pigeons fly in confused patterns above them. Under her feet, she hears the scrabbling of tiny paws as the rodents flee along the sewers. Flee from Hell’s Kitchen.

“Something’s wrong,” is all she can say before she feels the vibrations, coming up through the soles of her shoes.

She hears the electricity shorting, hears concrete and metal and stone fracture. There’s a cacophony of falling objects inside the buildings around them. Parked cars jerk forward, slamming into each other, and Foggy holds her against him, her belly safe between their bodies.

“Jesus, was that an earthquake?” Foggy says, but she’s already pulling away from him, stumbling after the sounds of a wounded Hell’s Kitchen.

_I can’t. I can’t. I can’t._

“Mattie.” Foggy touches her shoulder, the way he used to before he knew about her senses. “I’m going to call Brett. Where do I need to send him?”

She listens, stretching out her hearing. Shouting, the click of a gun’s safety.

“39th and 9th,” she says. “Man with a gun, holding stolen goods.”

“On it.” She hears his phone start to dial. She pulls out her own, and cradles it against her chest, the sounds of Hell’s Kitchen surrounding her, as if the darkest human impulses crawled out of the fault line the earthquake cracked open. Two words, “Call Trish,” that she desperately wants to say, but can’t. Trish is her own person, with her own battles to fight. 

Mattie doesn’t realize she’s shaking until Foggy puts his arms around her.

“Let’s go home. Let’s go home,” he says softly.

She lets him lead her home.

There’s a crack in the drywall; she can smell the dust as soon as she comes through the door. A few things fell off of shelves, but nothing seems to be badly broken. The ancient plumbing in the kitchen is dripping from where it was jarred loose.

“Brett is handling it,” Foggy says, closing the door.

_Not enough._

“He’s just one person,” she says.

“He’s got the entire NYPD on his side.” He’s trying to sound cheerful. It’s not working. His phone rings, and he takes the call. Blake Tower, concerned about the high number of arrests post-earthquake that will need to be arraigned. Foggy agrees to go in early, and leaves her with a kiss on her forehead.

Sighing, she pulls out Foggy’s toolbox and slides under the sink. Navigating by feel and sound, she twists the seal until the leak stops. Then she opens the window.

The summer night is heavy with activity around the city’s open wounds, and as she climbs up, out the window and onto the fire escape and up to the roof, she lets it sink into her, as if through her skin, poison in her veins. She can’t let it out, drain it away into a pool of blood, so instead she lets it out the only way she can, leaking down her face as she sobs, her nails biting into her palms.

It’s not just hormones.

When she’s done, she climbs back down to her apartment and slips back in through the window. She splashes water on her face and climbs into bed, for Foggy to find her in the morning.

After he comes in, she wanders down to Jessica’s apartment. Becca is already taking down the voicemails. Jessica isn’t home, and Mattie can smell that her bed hasn’t been slept in.

“Jess?” Mattie calls, for appearances.

“She’s not here,” Becca says. “I don’t think she came home last night.”

Mattie is about to suggest that Becca call Jessica’s cell when she hears a familiar heartbeat moving through the building.

_Misty Knight?_

“Has Malcolm seen her?” Mattie says, stalling for time and hoping that Detective Knight is here about some _other_ socially-graceless PI.

“Haven’t seen him, either.”

Knight is getting off the elevator.

“You know, why don’t I go ask him?” Mattie says. She turns and opens the door.

“Mattie Murdock?” Knight says, still a good ten feet down the hall. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here. Is that…Detective Knight?”

“Sorry. Yes. You work at a PI agency? I thought you were a lawyer.”

“ _Pro bono_ work doesn’t pay the bills. Is there anything I can help you with, Detective?”

“I’m looking for Jessica Jones.”

“She’s not here.”

“I’d like to see that for myself.”

Mattie debates the pros and cons of letting Knight into Jessica’s apartment without a warrant, and decides that if Jessica hasn’t been home since she went looking for John Raymond, there can’t be anything incriminating lying around.

“Sure, come on in.” Mattie steps aside and lets Knight go in first. “Detective, this is Becca Cross, our receptionist. Becca, this is Detective Knight.”

“You worked on the Luke Cage cases,” Becca says in a rush. “Hi.”

_Right. Vigilante fangirl._

“Nice to meet you,” Knight says dryly. She peers around the doorframes into the bathroom and bedroom, and seems satisfied that Jessica is not hidden inside. “Don’t suppose you’d know where I can find Ms Jones?”

“She went out on a case yesterday afternoon,” Mattie says quickly, before Becca has to answer. “We don’t think she’s been home all night.”

“Well, that’s because she spent the night at an active crime scene with us. She mentioned she was hired to find a John Raymond?”

“Yes.”

“Anything else you can tell us about the case?”

“I’m afraid I was in court when Jessica took the case,” Mattie says smoothly. “You’d have to ask her for the details.” Becca, wisely, stays silent. “Did she find Raymond? Is that what was at the crime scene?”

“I can’t disclose that information. But I can disclose that Jessica Jones removed evidence from the crime scene after I interviewed her this morning.”

“That doesn’t sound like her,” Mattie lies. “Do you have any proof of that allegation?”

Knight pauses.

“Are you her lawyer, Ms Murdock?” Knight says.

“Whenever she needs me to be.”

“Well, then tell your client that she’s wanted for questioning. And it would be in her best interest to return the evidence she stole.”

“Allegedly.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”

“Thank you,” Knight says, sarcasm battling with professionalism. She pulls out her card and almost hands it to Mattie, before she obviously thinks better of it and hands it to Becca instead. “So she can call me the _minute_ she gets back.”

“Right,” Becca says, her heart hammering.

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Mattie says.

“Have a good day,” Knight says. Mattie listens to her boot heels rapping against the tiled floor of the hall as she strides to the elevator.

“Oh, my God, Mattie, what’s going on?” Becca says.

“It’s going to be OK,” Mattie says. “I’m going to try Jessica’s cell - can you check with Malcolm to see if he’s heard from her?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do that.”

“And Becca? This is confidential.” Sometimes they have to specify that, since Becca is part of a generation that thinks nothing of posting their entire lives online.

“Right. Yeah.” Becca doesn’t run down the hall to Malcolm’s door, but she moves fast. If Mattie knows her, she’ll spend a good ten minutes filling Malcolm in on the details of Detective Knight’s visit.

Mattie pulls her phone out of her pocket and tells it to call Jessica.

“Hey, you ever heard of Twin Oaks Shipping Company?” Jessica says by way of greeting.

“What? No. Where the hell are you?”

“Office of the City Register, which is…as dusty as it sounds. I’ve been digging into Twin Oaks Shipping Company, but I can’t find anything about what it actually does -“

“Does this have to do with the evidence you stole from an active crime scene?” Mattie hears Jessica sigh on the other end. “What was it?”

“Shipping manifest for the shit-ton of C4 that I found in John Raymond’s motel room.” _Oh, Jesus._ “Raymond’s the guy I was hired to find yesterday, in case -“

“Yeah, Malcolm and Becca filled me in. Look, Detective Knight was just here looking for you, you need to hand over anything you found.”

Jessica snorts into the phone. “Yeah, ‘cause _they’re_ the ones who’re going to find this guy.”

“And what was that about C4?”

“Raymond had crates of it in his motel room. Seriously. Take-down-a-building amounts.”

“Think that was the plan?”

“The guy doesn’t exactly fit your terrorist profile.”

“Could be a sleeper agent. HYDRA, or something.” _Which is why we should hand this over to the NYPD, or Homeland Security, or the goddamn Avengers._ Except Mattie doesn’t say that.

“Nah, this shit gets weirder. I’m trying to figure out this company that the C4 was shipped to, and it’s just been asset transfers back to…fuck, I’m somewhere in the nineteenth century, and it keeps going back. How are you with card catalogs?”

“Terrible. Jess, you need to return that manifest, you’re in enough trouble as it is.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why I have you around, isn’t it?”

Mattie grips the phone and fights the urge to scream.

“I’m not the one who stole evidence from a crime scene,” she snaps.

“Jesus, relax. Didn’t you say stress is bad for the baby?”

“ _This is not about me!_ ” Mattie hisses. “Ugh. Just bring the damn thing back with you, and I’ll turn it over to Knight.” _And I’ll figure something out._

“Yeah, whatever.” Jessica hangs up, and Mattie tugs at her hair with both hands. Jessica Jones is going to give her an aneurysm before the baby even has a chance to be born. 

“Malcolm hasn’t seen her,” Becca says, coming through the door.

“I know. I talked to her.”

“Did she say what happened?”

“John Raymond had a load of C4 explosives in his motel room, apparently.”

“Oh, my God.”

“What did you guys dig up on Raymond yesterday?”

Becca summarizes the profile she put together from online searches: John Raymond, rising architecture star, designs skyscrapers for an award-winning firm. Facebook profile is either work or family photos.

“His daughter’s pretty cool - Jessica had me talk to her while she talked to the wife. I mean, the client. I added her on Instagram.”

“The wife or the daughter?”

“Daughter.” _Duh_ again hangs unspoken in the air.

“Does Raymond have a military background, or anything like that?”

“If he does, it’s not on his Facebook.”

Mattie grins. “How’d you like to learn how to dig into someone’s background?”

She spends the day having Becca compile a list of possible associates. While Becca works on the computer, Mattie calls Brett.

“Please tell me this doesn’t have to do with…literally anything you do,” he says.

“Nice to talk to you, too, Brett. Can you look someone up for me?”

“Now, why did I have the feeling it was going to be something like that?”

“Why, thank you for your help, Detective. I’m looking for a John Raymond, wondering if he has any priors, known connections to organized crime, or extremist groups?”

“Wait, does this have to do with the domestic terrorism thing Jessica Jones called in last night?”

“Yes. You heard about that?”

“Stockpile of C4 like that? Trust me, everybody in the NYPD knows about it.” Mattie can hear Brett tapping on his keyboard. “You calling as a lawyer or a PI?”

“PI. For now.”

“Well, your guy Raymond is now on a terrorist watchlist, so, congratulations. No priors, no known ties.”

“Thanks, Brett.”

“Oh, and my mom says congratulations. You know, about the baby.”

“Tell her thanks.”

“So I guess that’s why a…certain costume hasn’t turned up recently?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of like mat leave.”

“Huh. Well, congratulations.”

“I’ll see you around, Brett.”

Becca is typing on the computer as she hangs up.

“This is so cool,” Becca says. “So, do we call these guys and pretend that Raymond’s won a prize, or something?”

“No, we give the list to Jessica, and she decides whether we need to contact these people,” Mattie says. “Is Cassie working tonight? Do you want to stick around for dinner?” Cassie works at a Starbucks near ESU.

“Yeah, she is. And sure.”

“OK, let’s go upstairs and wake up Foggy, and we can decide what to order. Text Jess that’s where we’ll be.”

Becca leads the way out while Mattie collects her cane from beside the door. As they’re closing the door behind them, a man halfway down the hall calls out, “Jessica Jones?”

“She’s not in right now -” Becca says over her shoulder, holding her keys in one hand, and the hairs on the back of Mattie’s neck rise as she smells metal and gunpowder.

“I can wait,” the man says, and he raises his hand towards them. Cold metal and gunpowder, and the shape of a revolver. “Get inside.”

“What’s going on?” Mattie says, as loudly as she can.

“He has a gun, Mattie,” Becca says, fear dripping from her pores.

“Just do as I say,” the man says.

“Who are you?” Mattie says.

“It’s John Raymond,” Becca says, tugging at Mattie’s arm as Raymond advances.

“There’s no need for this,” Mattie says.

“You’re wrong,” Raymond says. The muzzle of the gun touches the side of Mattie’s head. “Move.”

Mattie could disarm him (grab and twist, knee to the gut). She could try to tangle her cane in his feet (kick as he trips, elbow to the back of his head). He’s a portly, middle-aged architect, heart hammering with fear. There’s no way he would even pose a challenge.

But she can’t risk it. Not with Becca next to her. Not with the baby.

She lets Raymond push her into the apartment, Becca holding her hand.

“Becca doesn’t have to be here for this,” Mattie says. “Please, let her go into the other room. Don’t involve her.”

“Mattie, no,” Becca whispers.

“Just let her go into the bedroom,” Mattie continues. Jessica’s bedroom has a window that leads to the fire escape. Becca can easily climb to safety if Raymond’s attention is on Mattie, and Raymond certainly doesn’t seem to have thought much of this through.

Raymond glances through the bedroom door.

“Bathroom,” he says, gesturing with the gun.

“Mattie, I can’t leave you,” Becca says. She’s crying, a little.

“It’s OK, just close the door,” Mattie says. “We’re just going to talk, right, Mr Raymond? Nothing’s going to happen.”

Raymond gestures, and Becca stumbles into the bathroom, closing the door. Mattie hears her fumbling with her phone. Raymond grabs Mattie’s upper arm and presses the gun against her chest.

_Don’t hurt the baby._

“Where’s Jessica Jones?” he demands.

“She’s out. Looking for you. Your wife and your daughter were here yesterday…” And thank God, she can hear Jessica in the elevator. “Becca met them. She’s friends with your daughter on Instagram now,” she vamps, playing for time. Malcolm, in his apartment, is calling 911.

“Are you working for them?”

“I work for Jessica. And your wife was the one who hired us.”

Jessica opens the door, and for a moment, Raymond is distracted. Mattie could easily grab his arm, disarm him. But she’s frozen in place ( _Don’t risk the baby, you can’t risk the baby_ ), the moment standing still, before it speeds up again, and Raymond pulls her against him, gun against her head.

“I told you to stop following me,” Raymond says. “I told you to stay away.”

“Mr Raymond, trust me, right now, I wish I’d listened,” Jessica says. Her heartrate has accelerated.

“Are you working with them?” he repeats. He stinks of fear now, cold and shaking.

“With who?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“I work alone. Except for Mattie and - where’s Becca?”

“She’s in the bathroom,” Mattie says. “Staying out of this.” She desperately hopes Becca can hear her.

“OK, whatever you think is going on,” Jessica says, her voice surprisingly gentle, “whatever you _think_ is happening here -“

“I know damn well what’s happening here,” Raymond says, “I know too much. And next, they’ll come after my family -“

“Who’s they? Who do you think are after you?”

“I can’t tell you.” Raymond’s hand on Mattie’s arm is shaking. “This - this isn’t me. I’m a good man. Make sure you tell her that.” He believes that, despite Mattie’s opinion on the matter.

“OK, with any luck, you’re going to tell her that yourself. Now, your family is worried. They just wanted to know what happened. And the cops, they just want to know why you started stockpiling explosives.”

There’s someone coming down the hall. A heartbeat that reminds her of Nobu, but he’s dead twice over. A scent of jasmine mixed with…death. Familiar. It reminds Mattie of Elektra, in a way that sends a pang through her heart.

“There’s nowhere to go,” Raymond stammers. “They’ll find me. They’ll - they’ll hurt me.”

“To be honest, if you hurt my friend, I’m going to hurt you _worse_ ,” Jessica snaps, all pretence of gentleness gone.

“I was just trying to stop them! They’re going to take down the city!”

“Who? I can’t help you if you won’t tell me who.”

“I should never have come here.”

“Jess…” Mattie whispers. The person is outside the door.

“Oh, my God,” Raymond says. “It’s too late.”

There’s a sound of shearing metal, then the door is kicked in. Raymond lets go of Mattie’s arm, and Jessica dives for her, dragging her to the ground as Raymond starts shooting. The person, a woman, charges, seemingly unconcerned about the bullets, and grabs Raymond by the throat.

“You can’t have this,” Raymond chokes out, before he puts the gun to his own head and pulls the trigger.

“No!” Mattie shouts, scrambling to her feet, and the woman is on her, forcing her backwards against the wall, the blade of a sword against her throat.

“Holy shit,” Jessica says from the floor.

Mattie breathes deep, and she _knows_ this body, even with the scent of death clinging to it.

“Elektra?”

The blade stops moving, and the world stands still for the second time.

“Yagh!” Jessica grunts as she grabs Elektra off Mattie, throwing her across the room. Elektra flips gracefully, and runs out the door. “You OK?”

There’s a thin cut on Mattie’s neck, but the bleeding is already slowing.

“It was -“ Mattie starts.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.” With that, they start running down the hall.

“Mattie!” Malcolm says, opening his door. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine, go check on Becca!” Mattie calls. Jessica is already ripping the door to the stairs open.

Jessica is already leaping down the stairs, Elektra is two floors below her, and Mattie wants to throw up and cry and scream all at the same time. She catches up to Jessica in the lobby.

“She’s not here,” Mattie says, and Jessica runs out the front door, Mattie on her heels. Mattie listens, hard, and thinks she hears something down the street. She grabs Jessica’s elbow. “I think -“

“Hold it right there,” comes Misty Knight’s voice.

“Shit,” Jessica mutters.

“Turn around, both of you.” They turn. “Get your hands up. Now.”

It’s all a bit of a blur. Mattie argues to stay with Jessica, who is handcuffed in the back of Detective Knight’s car. Knight lets them ride to the Harlem precinct together, but insists on taking Mattie’s statement before she’s allowed to speak with Jessica. Malcolm and Becca are giving their statements in other rooms, and Mattie hears Foggy as soon as he steps into the precinct.

“I need to see my wife,” he demands, striding through the hallways. He finds the office where Mattie and Knight are sitting, and throws open the door. “Mattie.” She stands up, and he’s crushing her against his chest. “Are you OK? Is the baby OK?”

“I’m fine, we’re both fine,” she manages. He doesn’t let her go.

“She’s free to go whenever she wants,” Knight says, sidling out the door.

“Jesus, what happened?” Foggy says.

“I froze,” tumbles out of her mouth. “I could have taken him, and he was distracted, and he was the only one who would have known, but I didn’t, and he’s dead, and it was Elektra and…”

“Shh, hey, kitten, it’s OK…” He’s just holding her, one hand stroking her hair, making soothing noises, and she doesn’t know when she started shaking. And crying.

“No, it’s not! I couldn’t protect it, I couldn’t do anything…” She takes a deep breath, breathing him in, listening to his heartbeat. Inside her, the baby shifts, safe. “There’s one thing I can do,” she says, standing up straight and running her hands through her hair. “Is Jessica being charged?”

“I don’t know. I’m here as your husband, not an ADA.”

“OK, then I need to talk to her. And I want to talk to Ellen or Kirsten, or whoever’s call this is.”

“Mattie -“

“Where is she?”

Foggy sighs. “Let’s go find her.”

It’s not hard; Jessica has a very distinctive heartbeat. Detective Knight strides up the hall from the opposite direction.

“Good, we can get started,” Knight says.

“Is my client being charged?” Mattie says.

“Not yet.”

“Is she a suspect?”

Knight shrugs.

“She just shrugged,” Foggy says.

“Criminal mischief, tampering with evidence, petty larceny…” Knight drawls.

“You have the evidence. Jessica very happily turned it over to you while I was standing right next to her,” Mattie says.

“Your client may have interfered with a city-wide investigation -“

“She interfered with a hostage situation where I had a gun to my head, so forgive me if I’m not sympathetic,” Mattie snaps. “Is she being charged?”

“No.”

“Then we’re done here.” Mattie opens the door. “Jess, we’re going.”

“Great,” Jessica grumbles. Mattie hears the snap of metal as she breaks the cuffs holding her to the table. Foggy sighs. Jessica holds out the broken cuffs to Detective Knight.

“We can add destruction of police property to the rap sheet,” Knight says. “And your apartment slash office is still an active crime scene, and you’ll have to make yourself available for follow up questions.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t leave town, I know the drill,” Jessica says.

“If you’d like to speak with her, you can call me,” Mattie says.

They gather up Malcolm as they leave; Becca has already been collected by Cassie. It’s a silent taxi ride back to Hell’s Kitchen, Foggy’s arm wrapped around Mattie’s shoulders. Jessica doesn’t bother stopping on the fifth floor when Malcolm gets off the elevator, and follows Mattie and Foggy to their apartment on the sixth.

“So, your dead ex,” she says, shutting the door behind her. “Was she hiding out in a hospital in Jersey too?”

“What?” Foggy says.

“She _was_ dead,” Mattie says, pacing. “I held her as she died, I heard her heart stop.” Her hand comes to rest on her stomach, feeling the heartbeat there.

“Elektra’s alive?” Foggy says.

“And still a bitch,” Jessica says. “Mattie, come on, you have to know _something_.”

“‘This is not the end,’” Mattie says.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It was what she said to me. When she died.”

“Mattie, I need you -“

“Stick said that the Hand found out the key to immortality. They brought Nobu back after I killed him. And Jacques said he needed to find out where Elektra had been buried.”

“Did he say if he did?” Foggy says quietly.

Mattie shakes her head. “I haven’t heard from him since then.”

“Who the hell is Jacques?” Jessica snaps. “And what the _fuck_ does he have to do with John Raymond?”

“Jacques’…a member of the Chaste. Enemies of the Hand.”

“Those ninja assholes? Jesus, I told you I draw the line at ninjas.”

“We may not have a choice.”

“Fucking…”

“And I don’t know how John Raymond was mixed up with the Hand, but we need to find out. Now.”

“It’s one in the morning,” Foggy says. “You think anyone’s going to talk to you at one in the morning?” Jessica groans as Mattie sighs. “And since _nobody_ is going to do any vigilante-ing any time soon, maybe we should all get some sleep.”

“Shower,” Mattie says. She still has some of John Raymond’s blood on her, drying on her skin.

“Yeah, you do that, kitten. Jess, you can sleep here if you want.”

“Yeah.” Jessica stretches out sideways on the loveseat, hooking a chair towards her with one foot so she can prop up her feet. She doesn’t even bother taking her boots off.

“I’ll get you a blanket.”

Under the hot water, Mattie scrubs away the reminders of the day’s horrors. Her mind replays the moment when Raymond had her at gunpoint. She could have moved, she knows exactly how she should have moved, but she’d been paralyzed. Helpless. Blind, pregnant, and helpless.

She doesn’t realize that the smell of blood is her own until she stops hitting the tiled wall.

Foggy slips into the bathroom while she’s brushing her teeth.

“So. The Hand,” he says. She nods and makes an inarticulate sound around her toothbrush. “You can’t go up against them. Not now.”

She spits and rinses her mouth.

“I’m not going up against them,” she says quietly. “I’m just going to help Jess investigate. No fights.”

“You should call Claire.”

“I will. When we have something concrete, but there’s not much she can do right now, with her friends out of town, and she just got Luke back, and…they deserve some time.”

Foggy puts his arms around her, holding her with his chest pressed against her back.

“What if you find Elektra?” he says.

She doesn’t say anything, just grips the sink with both hands.

“Mattie, she could -“

“I’m not going to fight her,” she says. “I…if I can help her…I just want to help her.”

Foggy’s hand runs down her arm to her bleeding knuckles.

“Did Elektra do that?” he says.

“No.”

There’s a pause, the kind where she knows he’s swallowing whatever he wants to say. Instead, he reaches under the counter and pulls out the first aid kit.

Mattie and Jessica’s first stop in the morning is to John Raymond’s wife. They get a grand total of no new information.

“Waste of time,” Jessica says as they let themselves out.

“At least we know she isn’t Hand,” Mattie says. Jessica’s head turns toward her, and Mattie guesses that she’s rolling her eyes. “It _was_ a possibility.”

“Great.”

“This is what they do. They use families against each other. Threaten the people you love.”

“Got that, thanks.” Jessica has her phone out, tapping and swiping.

“I’m serious -“

“Hold on.” Jessica brings her phone to her ear. “Hi, this is Anna Asher from Ducasse and Cross?" She's speaking with an eerily perky voice that Mattie finds somewhat horrifying. "We’re in the market for the design of our new headquarters, and your firm was mentioned as a possibility, so I was hoping that I might be able to speak with one of your project managers? Unfortunately, I’m only in New York until tomorrow morning, so I was hoping I could come by with my associate today?” She leaves her number and hangs up.

“Your associate?”

“Yeah, I need my accessibility prop.” She holds out her elbow and Mattie takes it with a sigh. “What happened to your hand, anyway?”

“Slipped in the shower last night.”

By mid-afternoon, Anna Asher and Jackie Batlin of Ducasse and Cross (a vaguely-defined cutting-edge consultancy firm) are meeting with a project manager of Duncan & Dotter, the former workplace of John Raymond. The project manager enthusiastically tells them of the accessibility and sustainability that they can include in the design, while Ms Asher pushes for more “cutting-edge” examples of their work.

“Can you keep a secret?” the project manager says.

“I am the face of discretion,” Anna Asher says. Mattie resists rolling her eyes.

“I can show you our most recent work. A building in Hell’s Kitchen, designed by my colleague John Raymond.” He types on the laptop in front of him.

“Wow,” Jessica says.

“Midland Circle.” He pauses for a moment. “I’m sorry, Ms Batlin, I should explain. It’s a high-rise -“

“Is that architect on the premises?” Anna Asher interrupts. “I’d love to speak with him.”

“No…” The project manager’s heart speeds up, and he starts to sweat. “No, he’s…not.”

“Oh.”

“Who were the clients?” Mattie says.

“That’s privileged information, I’m sure you understand,” he says.

“Of course.”

“Now, unfortunately, I can’t print out the specifications for you, but I do have another structure you might be interested in, one that we unveiled in Soho last winter?”

“Great,” Jessica says.

He trots off. Next to Mattie, Jessica has her phone out, and Mattie hears the shutter on her camera app click.

“OK, let’s go,” Jessica says, dropping the Anna Asher voice.

_Thank God._

“Please tell me you got the address,” Mattie says.

“I’m not an idiot.”

In the elevator, Jessica flicks through her phone.

“560 West 44th,” Jessica says. Mattie feels a prickle run down her spine. “That mean anything to you?”

“Yeah,” Mattie says quietly. “It’s where Elena used to live.”

“Elena? You mean your adopted grandma?”

Jessica may be a bit sore because of that one time Elena said she was too thin and needed to eat more.

“Yeah.” Mattie chews on the words, spitting them out. “Fisk tried to force her out, and when that didn’t work, he had the building burned down. Last time I was there, the Hand were digging a forty-story hole in the ground.” She pulls down the collar of her jacket on the right side of her neck, pushing back her hair. “They nearly got me.” She runs her fingertip over the thin scar at the bottom of her neck, just above where her suit could protect her.

“You can’t dig forty stories under Manhattan,” Jessica says. “Isn’t it all bedrock?”

“You can’t bring people back from the dead, either,” Mattie says. “When it comes to the Hand, I don’t assume anything, anymore.”

They ride in silence.

“Just for the record, I’m not in this for the ninja shit,” Jessica says.

“You’ve said that already.”

“I just want it to be clear. I am here looking for answers.”

Mattie nods. “You’re still coming?”

“Of course I’m coming.”

Across the street from Midland Circle, the buildings are still low-rises with convenient fire escapes to climb. Mattie and Jessica slip into an alley, and Mattie is about to jump up to grab the ladder when Jessica stops her.

“Just hang on,” Jessica says impatiently, draping Mattie’s arm around her shoulders. She jumps, clearing the four stories easily, and landing on the roof. She drops to one knee with an “oof,” and Mattie tumbles to the concrete.

“Yeah, that was _way_ better,” Mattie says.

“Shut up,” Jessica says articulately.

They set up camp facing the Midland Circle building. Jessica has her camera out, and Mattie tries to listen in on the conversations happening inside. The whole building is buzzing, the way that she remembers happens when a large number of Hand warriors are together. It makes words hard to make out, especially on the higher floors.

“I think a lot of them are speaking Japanese,” she admits. “I’m pretty sure it’s Japanese.”

“Great, you know anyone who speaks Japanese?”

“I did,” Mattie says, thinking of Stick and Elektra.

They spend two hours on the roof, half-heartedly debating whether they should try going into the building or not.

“You going to demand to speak with the management?” Mattie says, for what feels like the hundredth time. “Or ask them where they get their C4 dropped off?”

“Look, there’s always information you can pick up just being - what’s Danny Rand doing here?”

“What?” Mattie leans over the half-wall at the edge of the roof. She can barely hear it, and she’s only been in the same room as Rand once, but she recognizes the heartbeat. “He’s supposed to be in Asia.”

“That’s him, though, right?” Jessica is snapping photos.

“Yeah, it’s him.” She listens closely as Rand approaches the reception desk and demands to see the CEOs of Midland Circle Financial.

“Are they expecting you?” the receptionist says.

“Not like this,” Rand says.

“Whatever’s going on, I don’t think he’s feeling friendly,” Mattie says as Rand is led into the elevator. She follows him up, but loses him near the top of the building. “Dammit, I lost him.”

Jessica grinds her teeth for a moment.

“OK, we’re - “

“What the hell is Luke Cage doing here?” Mattie and Jessica say at the same time.

On the street beneath them, Luke Cage is striding into the lobby like he owns the place.

“This is some weird-ass shit,” Jessica says. “Come on.”

She picks Mattie up and jumps before Mattie can even protest. They land on the sidewalk with fewer mishaps than before, and Jessica is pulling Mattie by the arm across the street. They don’t stop for breath as they enter the lobby, and ignore the receptionist who calls out to ask if he can help them. Jessica calls the elevator, and shoves Mattie in, closing the door before the security guards running at them can make it across the lobby.

Mattie listens hard, trying to make out Rand or Luke’s voices.

“…but I’m here to expose you,” she hears Rand say. “I’m the Immortal Iron Fist, weapon of K’un-Lun. And I’m fulfilling my destiny.”

“K’un-Lun,” a woman says, her voice getting clearer as the elevator climbs higher. “How is it these days?”

“You’re going to lose everything,” Rand says. “Just like I did.”

“You haven’t lost everything, Mr Rand. Not yet.”

Mattie is close enough that she can hear the gun cocking.

“Shit,” she says.

“What?” Jessica says.

There’s a gunshot, muffled by a silencer.

“They’ve just attacked Rand,” Mattie says.

“Shit.”

The elevator doors open, and Jessica steps out.

“Jess, I can’t,” Mattie says, as she hears the sounds of a fight down the hall. “I can’t be involved in this!”

“Shit,” Jessica repeats. She pulls Mattie out of the elevator. “Stay here.” She shoves Mattie against the wall, and awkwardly pats her shoulder. “Don’t…get hit…”

“Just go,” Mattie says. She can hear Luke crashing through a door at the end of the hall. Jessica turns and strides away.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck. Just protect the baby, you fucking idiot. That’s your job, now._

Jessica turns the corner, and that’s when the gunfire starts.

“Jess!” Mattie screams, her body taking over and flinging itself down the hall. She needs to help Jessica, it’s not like _she’s_ bulletproof…

In front of her, Luke crashes through the wall with a Hand ninja. He kicks the ninja on the ground.

“Mattie?” he says.

“What?!” Jessica says, coming back around the corner. Which is when Danny Rand and another Hand ninja fly through the hole in the wall. “Jesus, Luke, cover her!”

Luke sweeps Mattie into an embrace, shielding her from the fight.

“Good to see you,” he says.

“Wish I could say the same,” Mattie says.

“We have to get out of here,” Rand says, striding past them towards the elevator. The ninja is on the floor. Mattie can smell jasmine and death.

“Wait,” she says. “Someone else is coming.”

It still takes a moment for her to remember that this person coming around the corner is Elektra. So close, but still not quite right.

“Oh, shit,” Jessica says.

“Who’s that?” Luke says.

“Bad news. We gotta go.”

Luke’s arm around Mattie’s shoulders sweeps her around, away from Elektra, just as a new group of ninjas turn the corner, blocking their way to the elevator.

“Uh-oh,” Jessica sing-songs.

Luke clutches Mattie to him, fighting off ninjas with his other arm, dragging her towards the elevator. Danny and Jessica dart forwards, taking on the squad blocking their exit, just as -

“Luke!” Mattie screams as Elektra’s sword shatters on Luke’s back. Luke makes an annoyed noise, deep in his chest, and swings them around, his fist arcing towards Elektra’s face. She bends backwards, cartwheeling effortlessly. Luke pulls Mattie behind him, placing himself between her and Elektra.

Elektra’s leg swings around in a roundhouse kick, and Luke goes flying, crashing through a glass wall. Mattie doesn’t have a moment to process the fact that Elektra just knocked _Luke Cage_ off his feet, because Elektra has her by the throat, shoving her backwards until her back hits another wall. Mattie brings down her fist on Elektra’s elbow, breaking her grip, but Elektra’s forearm slams across her chest, pinning her back.

They’re close enough to kiss, and Mattie can remember a hundred times they were just like this. Elektra was always a better fighter than she was.

“Elektra,” she whispers. “It’s me. Matilda.”

The moment stretches out, almost peaceful, until Danny dashes down the hall at them. Mattie can feel…she can’t describe it, almost like a gathering storm contained in his hand, and the storm breaks across Elektra’s face, throwing her the length of the corridor.

She doesn’t get back up.

“Come on,” Danny says, taking Mattie’s hand and leading her towards the elevators, around the strewn bodies of the Hand. Luke is already on his feet, and he brings up the rear as they pile into the elevator Jessica is holding open for them. She stabs a button, and the doors close.

Inside her head, Mattie swears profusely enough to make Jessica Jones blush.

“So…” Luke says. “How you been?”

“Long story,” Jessica says.


	2. Let It Bleed

“So, why do you have my lawyer with you?” Luke says.

“She’s _my_ lawyer,” Jessica snaps.

“I’m both your lawyers,” Mattie says, pretty certain that sentence doesn’t make grammatical sense. Her adrenaline is dropping, and she feels drained. And hungry. And possibly nauseated, she hasn’t decided yet. “And Luke, we need to talk about that lawsuit against the state of Georgia -“

“Not the time,” Jessica interrupts.

“Just thought I’d mention it.”

They’re sheltering inside a Chinese restaurant a few blocks away from Midland Circle; Mattie can smell pork and ginger and garlic in the air. Luke had offered to carry her when they’d hit the sidewalk, and she’d heard that there were more Hand warriors after them. Mattie had drawn the line at that, and let Jessica lead her by the hand instead.

Now, Danny is speaking in very rapid Mandarin to the irate restaurant owner, while Mattie, Jessica, and Luke awkwardly stand in the middle of the restaurant.

Mattie thinks she should probably call Foggy, but God knows if that might bring the Hand down on them.

“So what was that about hearing neon?” Luke says.

_Shit_. Never underestimate Luke Cage’s powers of observation.

Mattie is saved by Danny Rand announcing that he’s paid off the restaurant owner to let them stay.

“Hey, I’m, uh, I’m Danny,” he finishes, holding out his hand to Jessica.

“Jessica,” she says, shaking it. Danny turns to Mattie, and holds his hand awkwardly, the way people always do.

“And, uh, you are…”

“Mattie.” She holds her hand out two inches to the left of Danny’s, and she can almost hear Jessica’s eyes roll. He shakes it warmly enough.

“So, uh -“ Danny starts.

“What the hell happened up there?” Jessica says.

“Yeah, man, what was that?” Luke says.

“They call themselves the Hand,” Danny says.

“Yeah, we know all that,” Mattie says. “What were you doing there?”

“You’ve crossed paths with them before?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

Mattie hesitates.

“Last fall,” Jessica says. “They attacked the hospital where Mattie’s friend worked.”

“Claire,” Mattie says. “I think you know her.”

“Yeah,” Danny says. “Yeah, I do.”

“Wait, you two are mixed up in that?” Luke says.

“Barely,” Jessica says. “I’m just trying to crack a case.”

“It’s not that simple, Jess,” Mattie says.

“Not for you. Because of all the…history and shit, I get it, but I just want some answers.”

“Look, these people are dangerous -“ Danny says.

“So am I,” Jessica shoots back.

“What is that?” Luke says.

Mattie smells freshly made food, and hears trays being carried into the dining room and put down on the big table in the middle.

“Oh,” Danny says, “as, uh, part of the deal, he made me order four of everything.”

“We’re not here to eat!” Luke says.

“I think it’s the best idea I’ve heard all night,” Mattie says as her stomach growls.

“Are those pork?” Danny calls.

“No, they’re shrimp,” Mattie says before she can stop herself. Her stomach is more interested in the next batch being carried in. “This guy’s got pork.”

“Ah, great!” Danny says, bouncing over to the table, Luke following him. Mattie starts after them, but Jessica grabs her arm.

“You can’t see, remember?” Jessica hisses. Mattie stops. “Look, whatever you know about _the Hand_ , you need to tell them.”

“I can’t,” Mattie says in an undertone. “They don’t know about me, and we need to keep it that way.”

“They know enough. ‘I can hear neon?’”

“I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah, well, they’re going to put two and two together. Might as well tell them, and then Luke and Karate Kid can take care of this.”

“What, we just sit back and let the menfolk do all the fighting for us?”

“While you’re pregnant? Yeah, you let them take all the blows to the abdomen.”

Mattie’s mouth works around the words she wants to spit out, but she doesn’t say any of them.

“Come on,” Jessica says, tugging her towards the table where Danny is already eating a dumpling and telling Luke about the Hand’s quest for immortality.

“They want power and influence at every level across the world,” Danny is saying. “And I think they want me.”

“For your money?” Mattie says. Jessica puts her hand on the back of a chair.

“No.” Danny pauses. _Oh, great, dramatic pausing._ “I’m the Immortal Iron Fist.”

“Which means what, exactly?”

“Sworn protector of K’un-Lun?”

_Still not helping._

“What are you on? Lithium?” Jessica says.

“So who was the woman with the swords?” says Luke, because Luke Cage always finds the perfect question to ask. Mattie’s stomach clenches as she hears Jessica’s intake of breath beside her.

“Look, I’m not sure, but I fought her in Cambodia,” Danny says, clueless to the women’s reactions.

“Her name’s -“ Jessica starts.

“Her name’s Elektra Natchios,” Mattie interrupts. “She died a few months ago.”

“What?” Luke says.

“They brought her back,” Danny says. He’s not giving the slightest indication that he’s surprised.

“Yeah,” Mattie says. She pulls out the chair. “And if we’re going to talk about this, I’m going to need you to pass me the potstickers.” She sits and slides her hand across the tabletop to find the chopsticks. She waits. Luke picks up the plate of potstickers and hands them to Jessica, who puts them down next to Mattie’s left hand, nudging it. “Thanks.”

Jessica, Luke, and Danny sit as Mattie bites into a dumpling. Danny scoops fried rice into his bowl.

“So what’s this about bringing people back?” Luke says.

“The Hand can resurrect the dead,” Mattie says. She points her chopsticks in Danny’s direction. “You knew that already.”

“Yeah,” Danny says around a mouthful of rice.

“Who’d they bring back?”

Danny swallows. “Harold Meachum.”

Mattie nods. “I heard about that. I mean, about him coming back.”

“So…this woman. Elektra?” Luke says. “Who is she? Or who was she?”

Mattie can feel Jessica tensing beside her.

“She was my girlfriend,” Mattie says. “In college.” She pokes around for another dumpling, buying herself time. “She was involved with the Chaste.” She pauses, but Danny gives no indication he recognizes the name. 

“God, these names are killing me,” Jessica drawls.

“They’re…like an anti-Hand organization,” Mattie says.

“I think…I think I met one of them in Cambodia,” Danny says. “But, Elektra, the Hand killed her?”

Mattie shakes her head. “She came back to New York for me. I was in trouble, and she tried to help, and -“ _Wilson Fisk’s assassin gutted her and she bled out in my arms._ “She got killed, trying to help me. But the Hand must have gotten a hold of her body and brought her back.” She picks up a dumpling and bites in viciously.

“Hey, Mattie,” Luke says in the silence, “there’s a plate of noodles at your one o’clock, you want to pass it over?”

“Yeah.” She holds out the plate until Luke takes it from her.

“OK, so, we need to come up with some kind of plan, here,” Luke says as he scrapes noodles onto his plate.

“The only plan is how we get these people off our backs,” Jessica says. “Ideally, in a way that doesn’t incriminate us.”

“Incriminate us?” Danny says. “What are you talking about?”

“None of us are on police payroll. What we did back there was trespassing, aggravated assault, and vigilante bullshit.”

“Guys, there’s one cop I think we can trust,” Luke says. “I think we should bring her in.”

“No, you’d be putting her in danger,” Mattie says, knowing full well who he means.

“As will anyone who goes up against the Hand,” Danny says. “And as for doing this any ‘legal’ way? Well, look, you saw what happened when we tried that.”

“Is that what that was?” Luke says.

“It started that way. I mean, come on, look, I even put on a tie.”

“I promise you, you can’t fight the Hand,” Mattie says. “Not even with whatever it is your hand can do.”

“It’s chi.”

“It’s not,” Jessica says.

“What I’m saying is,” Mattie continues, “going at them head-on, that’ll get you killed.”

“Only if we do it alone,” Danny says.

Another dramatic pause. Mattie shovels more food into her mouth.

“No,” Jessica says.

“Look, these people took everything from me,” Danny says. “I’m going to take them down, one way or another.”

Luke drops his chopsticks with finality. “I wanted to help one kid. One family.”

“I’m the first to admit when I’m in over my head,” Jessica says, “and this is way past my threshold.”

“What are you talking about?” Danny says. “Bulletproof…Whatever it is you are.”

“Classy.”

“And…” Danny’s hand waves in Mattie’s direction.

“Blind lawyer?” she says around a mouthful of noodles.

“With first-hand knowledge of the Hand’s deadliest fighter,” Danny rallies.

“She’s also good at keeping us out of jail,” Luke says, making Mattie’s insides go a little warm and gooey. “Which is how I prefer it.”

“Look,” Danny says, “I tried being a one-man army, and it failed. But this? This feels like something else is at work here. The four of us show up to fight a criminal organization at the same moment?”

“Technically, it was only three of you,” Mattie mutters.

“How obvious does it have to be? This? This cannot be an accident.”

“You’re right,” Mattie says.

“What?” Jessica says.

“We are four very different -“ Luke starts.

“Not - not about that. But you’re right, there may be a reason that we were all there tonight. Because you need allies. And we may not be the ones you need, but I do know where you can start looking.”

Danny nods.

“He nodded,” Jessica says.

“Good. So let’s finish eating, and then I can take you there,” Mattie says. “Jess, that steamed fish next to you?”

“Yeah.” Jessica puts the plate down next to Mattie’s hand. “At your three o’clock.”

“Thanks.” She reaches for the plate, then stops herself. “Shit.”

“What?” Luke says.

“I can’t eat fish.” She holds out the plate. “Want some?”

Luke takes the plate, and Mattie takes a huge bite of noodles from her own. “Allergies?” Luke says.

“Mmf,” Mattie says. There are more noodles than she was expecting. “Mmf!” she waves at Jessica.

“She’s eating for two,” Jessica translates.

Mattie swallows. “Yeah.”

“Hey, congratulations,” Luke says. There’s some sort of silent communication going on between Luke and Jessica.

“Uh, yeah,” Danny says. He stands up and reaches across the table to the plate of potstickers in front of her. Mattie’s hand whips out and grabs his wrist.

“And you can get your own dumplings,” she says.

“Pregnant woman gets first dibs on the food,” Luke says. Danny withdraws his hand.

“Right. Sorry,” Danny says. He grabs another plate and starts in on it.

“How are you still hungry? Her, I get, but -“

“It takes a lot of energy to summon my chi,” Danny says. Luke chuckles.

“That’s what they all say,” Jessica says, making Mattie choke on a bit of dumpling.

“What?” Danny says. “Come on, you’ve seen it in action. Well, maybe not -“

“We get it,” Mattie says.

“Luke’s seen it twice.”

“Impressed?” Jessica says. “Did it…measure up?”

“I liked it better on my side of the fight and not the side of my face,” Luke says, in a tone that brooks no innuendo.

“Yeah, me too,” Danny says.

“Don’t get too used to it.”

“What? We make quite a team.”

“We are _not_ a team,” Jessica says. “And seriously, are you two trying to eat the entire table, or can we go drop off the Boy Wonder with the Virgin Ninjas?”

Mattie takes a bite of dumpling, extra-slow.

“They’re called the Chaste,” she says, after she’s eaten the whole dumpling.

“Whatever. If I get you a box, will you just take the rest of those with you?”

“Fine. Danny, you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Danny says. He holds out the plate to Luke. “Last one?”

Luke takes the dumpling and eats it while Jessica strides off to the kitchen. She reappears with a cardboard carton and dumps the remaining potstickers into it.

“There. Lunch tomorrow, or midnight snack, or whatever.”

“Always good to know you’re looking out for me,” Mattie says dryly.

Danny retrieves his credit card from the restaurant owner, and then they’re all standing on the sidewalk.

“Where are we going?” Danny says.

“49th and 10th,” Mattie says. “I don’t know the exact address.”

“We walking?” Luke says.

“I could call a car,” Danny says.

“Yeah, and if the Hand are trying to find us, you’re giving them a giant flashing arrow pointed at your head,” Jessica says.

“Cab?” Mattie says.

They squeeze into the next cab that passes them, Mattie on Luke’s lap (“Sorry, this is pretty unprofessional.”). At the corner of 49th and 10th, Mattie stands and tries to remember where the bookshop was. For a moment, she’s worried she won’t find it again, but then she hears voices.

“This way.”

The door is locked, but Jessica makes short work of it. Mattie holds out a hand, telling the others to stay back, and she moves cane-first through the shop, to the stairs to the basement. She hears the voices stop, then hissed instructions. Only two of them.

“Jacques?” she calls as she opens the door to the stairs. “It’s me. Matilda.”

“Are you alone?” Jacques calls back.

“No. I have some friends with me.” She slowly makes her way down the stairs; she can tell that Jaques has a sai in each hand, ready to defend himself. Next to him is Quinn, sword at the ready. “They don’t know - about me,” she says quietly. “About Daredevil. But I think they need your help.”

“You expect us to help you?” Quinn says. “After what happened to Elektra?”

Mattie’s jaw tightens. “I have the Immortal Iron Fist with me,” she says tightly. “I seem to recall that title meant something to you.”

There’s a pause as the men turn their heads to each other.

“Bring him down,” Jacques says. He turns his sai and sheaths them at his back.

“Guys, you can come down,” Mattie calls. Quinn is still hesitating, but he sheaths his sword once Danny is halfway down the stairs. “Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist. Jacques and Quinn,” Mattie says, waving her arm to designate everyone. “And Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.”

Jacques and Quinn bow formally to Danny.

“It is an honor,” Jacques says.

“You’re with the Chaste?” Danny says.

“We are the Chaste,” Jacques says quietly. “All that’s left of it.”

“What happened to Eric?” Mattie says.

“He heard that the Iron Fist had been seen in Asia. He went to Phnom Penh to find you.”

“He did,” Danny says. “Elektra killed him. Before he could tell me anything.”

“Elektra?” Jacques takes a step forward.

“They brought her back, then?” Quinn growls.

Mattie nods. “Not all of her. She didn’t - I don’t think she remembers…us.” She slides the words around her suspicions. “But she used to know about this place, and I don’t think we should rely on what she may or may not remember.”

“I know a place,” Danny says. “We’ll be safe there.”

“Too late.” Outside Mattie can hear a van pull up, and weapons being loaded. “They’re here.”

“Shit,” Jessica says succinctly.

“How’d they find us?” Luke says.

“If they want to find you, they’ll find you,” Quinn says.

“There’s a back door upstairs,” Jacques says. “Matilda, do they have it covered?”

“Not yet,” she says.

“Let’s move,” Danny says, leading the way up the stairs. Jessica reaches over and puts Mattie’s hand on her arm, and they’re all turning the corner into the shop when Mattie smells…perfume, laid over the scent of illness.

“Mr Rand, I thought we should talk. Like adults,” says the woman standing alone in the middle of the shop. Mattie recognizes her voice from Midland Circle. “I’m sorry your exit from our meeting was so abrupt.” Mattie quietly folds up her cane, holding it in her free hand. Beside her, she hears Quinn’s sword loosen in the scabbard, and Jacques’ sai slide free under his jacket.

“You tried to kill us,” Danny says, stepping forward.

“Oh, them, maybe,” the woman says. “Not you. My organization has always had a great deal of respect for the protector of K’un-Lun.”

“Your respect means nothing to me. My only purpose is to take you down.”

“Something you’ve repeatedly failed to do. Perhaps it’s time to consider some alternatives.”

“There are no alternatives.”

“Oh, darling, there are always alternatives. That’s what makes life interesting.”

“Who _are_ you?” Danny demands.

“I’ve had many names, over the years. But please, call me Alexandra.”

“Twin Oaks,” Jessica mutters under her breath while Danny asks Alexandra what she wants.

“Hm?” Mattie says, tilting her head to Jessica. Alexandra says something about “light into darkness” and “life where there is death.’

“Records, dating back to the 1800s. Same handwriting, always a woman, always started with an A.”

“You think this is her?”

“You did say they figured out immortality.”

Immortality, perhaps. Nevertheless, Mattie can tell that this woman is dying.

“For all your talk of life, you sure kill a lot of people,” Luke says dryly.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” Alexandra says.

“Let’s keep it that way.”

“I can see you’ve formed a kind of bond here,” Alexandra says, no, _declaims_. “And while that might give you some comfort, I promise you, it’s temporary. They will disappoint you.”

“They haven’t yet,” Danny says.

“They will not make you stronger. And if I might give you some advice, the more connections you have, the easier it will be to break you.”

Mattie’s hand tightens around her cane as she thinks of Foggy.

“You didn’t answer his question,” Quinn snarls. He and Jacques have slipped forward to flank Danny. “What do you want?”

“Ah, these must be Stick’s proteges,” Alexandra says. “How quaint. To answer your question, I want Mr Rand’s assistance with a small problem.”

“A small problem that has brought the five fingers of the Hand together?” Jacques says.

“And did Stick ever tell you what happened the last time the five fingers of the Hand came together?” Alexandra says.

“It was a culling,” Quinn says.

“And New York is so densely populated.”

“What are you talking about doing?” Danny says.

“Think of how many live you can save if you just come with me.”

“Danny…” Mattie cautions.

“I might even let them go free. You need to think this through.”

“And you need to leave,” Luke says, her equal in gravitas. “Now.”

Danny grunts at little as he steps back from Alexandra, who sighs.

“Is that truly your decision?” she says, her tone never wavering.

“Yes,” Danny says.

Mattie hears the faintest creak of the back door opening. Elektra. She squeezes Jessica’s arm and gives her a nudge in that direction.

“Then they die,” Alexandra says. Elektra steps out between the bookcases to stand next to Alexandra. Mattie hears Quinn and Jacques’ heartbeats rise, breath coming fast with emotions she can’t name. “Let’s start with your pretty blind friend.”

“Lady,” Jessica says, as Luke steps in front of Mattie, “try scaring someone who cares.”

But Quinn moves at that moment, lashing out with his sword. Alexandra barely moves at all, her arm whirling as she twists, and Quinn is dead before he hits the floor.

“So predictable,” she says. “Go on, my child. Serve life itself.” She turns to leave as Elektra’s swords ring against each other.

“Hey, Finger Lady?” Jessica calls. Alexandra stops and looks over her shoulder. “Catch.”

One-handed, Jessica grabs the bookcase next to her and swings it around. Mattie hears metal shearing as it side-swipes Elektra and Alexandra, knocking them into the wall.

“Move!” Jessica shouts.

“Not the back!” Mattie shouts. She can hear footsteps in the alley. “Roof!”

She tugs Jessica to the door to the stairs going up, and they charge up. Below, she can hear fighters flooding into the shop. Above, someone is running down the stairs. Mattie pulls Jessica back just before she can be hit in the face with the man’s foot, and they fall. Luke catches Mattie by the jacket while Danny bear-hugs Jessica. Jacques surges forward, sai at the ready.

“Get off me, asshole!” Jessica says with her usual tact.

“Stay behind me,” Luke says, before rushing up the stairs. Jacques is losing, badly, his breathing already harsh, but Luke forces his way between the fighters and makes himself into a wall. The confined space works in Luke’s favor as he rips the railing off the stairs and backs his opponent into the empty space beyond. The Hand warrior nimbly catches himself with one hand, but the group are already running up the stairs.

They emerge onto the roof, and Jessica grabs the edge of the door, warping the metal so that it won’t open behind them. Behind the door, they can hear someone throwing their weight against it.

“I’m assuming the plan was some parkour shit?” Jessica says.

“Something like that,” Mattie says.

“You’re going to parkour?” Luke says.

“Nah. Hop on,” Jessica says. She wraps Mattie’s arm around her shoulder, and Mattie jumps onto her back.

“You guys do this a lot?”

“When it’s convenient,” Mattie says.

Jessica jumps to the next roof, and drops to one knee when she lands. Luke lands with a bigger thump, before Danny and Jacques lightly roll to their feet behind them. Jacques groans quietly but doesn’t complain.

“Let’s keep going,” Luke says.

They stay on the roofs for an hour, until they’re sure they haven’t been followed. The loop carries them south as they double back on themselves, until they finally call it. Mattie stands at the corner of a new roof, smelling Chinese five-spice, ginger, frozen meats, plastic wrap and brand-new electronics. Chinatown.

“Danny says the place is a few blocks from here,” Luke says, coming up behind her.

“I heard,” she says.

Luke pauses. “I think we should have a talk about what you can and can’t hear.”

She turns the corner of her mouth up. “Maybe we will.”

There’s a shift of muscle as he crosses his arms. “I don’t like being the only one out of the loop.”

“You’re not the only one. I just met Danny.”

“Who may have a mean right hook, but…let’s just say, he’s not the most observant.”

She turns to face him. “You trusted me, before.”

“Claire said I could. She know about this?”

“Yeah. And believe me when I say that it’s better and safer for everyone if you don’t.”

“And if I asked her? Right now?”

Mattie shrugs. “She’d probably say you’re better off not getting involved in my shit.” 

“Too late.”

“No. It’s never too late. You’re just too good a person to think that.”

She turns and walks back to the rest of the group.

Danny leads them into Chinatown, to a second-floor dojo that smells of sweat and the faint lingering aroma of sex. Danny is all over this place.

“Danny!” the woman ripping off boxing gloves says.

“Man, am I glad to see you,” Danny says, hugging her.

“Where have you been?”

“I’ll explain everything, but first, we have company.”

“Company? Hey, whoa.”

Jacques’ breathing is shallow and harsh, and Danny’s friend grabs him by the shoulders. He sags as she leads him to a chair.

“What happened?” she says.

“The Hand attacked us,” Danny says.

“We should call Claire,” Luke says.

“How do you know they didn’t follow you here?” Danny’s friend demands.

“We’re clear,” Mattie says. There’s something on the edge of her hearing that’s making the hairs on the back of her neck rise, but she ignores it. It’s not the Hand.

“For now,” Jacques says, and he’s gritting his teeth. In his chest, Mattie can hear bones creaking ominously. “But they found you once. They can do it again.”

“We can’t keep running forever,” Danny says.

“No,” Mattie says, “but we have time. Jacques needs help, we can get Claire here, and then we can figure out where to go.”

“My company owns a building not far from here.”

“We don’t need another hideout!” Jessica snaps. “We need for this to be over.”

“So we figure that part out now,” Luke says. “I’ll call Claire.”

Mattie nods, even though she’s not sure he’s looking at her as he turns and pulls out his phone. The sound in the room is high-pitched, reminding her of a wifi signal.

“Who’s this?” Jessica says.

“This is Colleen,” Danny says. “My girlfriend.”

“Cute.”

The silence lasts just a little too long.

“Jacques Duchamps,” says the injured man, holding out his hand. “And these are Jessica Jones and Matilda Murdock. And Luke Cage.”

“We’ve met,” Colleen says.

“Jacques is with the Chaste,” Danny says.

“The last of the Chaste,” Jacques says quietly.

“They’re uh -“

“Enemies of the Hand,” Colleen says. She’s tense, standing with her arms crossed.

“You fight the Hand with Danny?” Jacques says.

“Yes.”

“What does Alexandra want with me?” Danny says.

“I don’t know,” Jacques says.

“What _do_ you know about the Hand?”

And Jacques launches into a story, about a mystical city and the study of chi. About five heretics, cast out for seeking to use it for immortality.

“Alexandra, she has always been their leader,” Jacques says. “But the others are just as dangerous. Gao -“

“The heroin dealer?” Mattie says.

“She is much more than that.”

“She arranged to have my parents murdered,” Danny says.

“Yes, that sounds like something she would do. Then there is Sowande; he likes to stay in Africa, lived as a warlord there, until recently.”

“White Hat,” Luke says.

“And then Murakami -“

“The anime guy?” Jessica says.

“You’re thinking of Miyazaki,” Mattie says.

“Murakami has always lived in the shadows. I think he was the one who did this to me. Nobu Yoshioka was one of his.” No-one comments on this, to Mattie’s relief. “And Bakuto is the last.”

“Bakuto’s dead,” Colleen says.

“Are you sure?”

Both Colleen and Danny hesitate, turning their heads to each other for a glance.

“He took a knife to the chest,” Danny says, but his voice is uncertain.

Jacques shakes his head. “For those who have already died, that will not kill them. You must -“

“Remove the head or destroy the brain?” Jessica says. There’s a shift as everyone turns to her. “Nobody’s watched _Shaun of the Dead_?”

“I haven’t,” Mattie points out.

“She’s right, actually,” Jacques says.

A knock on the door makes everyone jump, except for Mattie.

“It’s me,” calls Claire. “Don’t…shoot, or throw anything.” She opens the door. “Wow. This…” She waves her hand in a circle in front of her. “This is something to see.”

“What?” Jessica says.

“The five of you? Never thought I’d get you all in the same room.” Claire crosses to where Jacques is sitting. “Guessing this is the guy with the broken rib?”

“Not broken,” Jacques says.

“I’ll be the judge of that. I’m Claire, in case these guys didn’t mention it.”

“Jacques. A pleasure.”

“Watch it,” Jessica says in an undertone, leaning to Luke. “Girls love the French accent.”

“Let’s give them some space,” Luke says, almost primly. They huddle in the opposite corner of the room, next to the door to Colleen’s bedroom.

“So, Claire fixes Jacques up, then what?” Jessica demands.

“We need to keep Danny under the radar until we can figure out why Alexandra wants him,” Luke says.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Colleen demands.

“Alexandra wants Danny,” Mattie says. “She wouldn’t say why, but she’s desperate to get him. She threatened us -“

“She threatened you,” Danny says.

“I’m trying not to take it personally.”

“And the people I care about.” Danny reaches out and puts his hand on Colleen’s arm.

“I’m not afraid of the Hand,” Colleen says.

“It’s not just you,” Luke says. “What she said - the more connections you have…”

“The easier it is to break you,” Danny finishes. “You don’t think she was just talking about me.”

“We all have people we want to protect.”

Mattie can hear her own heart accelerate, and the electronic whine is even louder on this side of the room. She pulls away from the group, toward the altar where she can smell incense.

“That’s how the Hand works,” Colleen says grimly.

“What do we do, put all our friends on lockdown?” Jessica says.

“I have a friend, at the Harlem precinct,” Luke says. “She’s working on this case already, she can help us. We bring everyone together there, she can make sure everyone’s safe -“

“Mattie?” Jessica calls.

Mattie holds up a finger to her lips, then gestures for them to keep going.

“So we make sure everyone is safe,” Danny says, “then we go after Alexandra?”

“Not you,” Luke says. “We need to keep you as far away from her as possible.”

Mattie reaches up and pulls the cap off the end of the bar holding the scroll up above the altar. It’s hollow, and inside is a tiny microphone, with a transmitter. Silently, she pulls it out so the others can see it.

Luke and Jessica tense as Danny falls silent. But Colleen has the most extreme reaction, her heart and breath skyrocketing to near-panic levels as fear pours off her.

“I think Luke’s right,” Mattie says evenly as she replaces the bug. “Danny, you should go to that building you mentioned and lay low. Maybe Colleen can stay with you.”

“I…uh…yeah, that sounds like a good plan,” Danny manages.

“And I’ll go with Luke up to Harlem.”

“Sure,” Luke says. “Hey Claire, is he good to go?”

“I wouldn’t recommend running a marathon, but he can walk,” Claire says.

“Let’s go.”

Mattie tugs at Jessica’s arm when they’re on the stairs.

“What’s the range on those things?” she says.

“Pretty minimal,” Jessica says. “Get to the street, we should be fine.”

They pour out onto the sidewalk as Danny and Colleen start sniping at each other.

“…we searched it together, remember?” Colleen is saying. “They must have broken in while we were away -“

“Who, Colleen?” Danny demands.

“Bakuto. It has to be him.”

“He’s dead.”

“We don’t know that!”

“Are you covering for him -“

“Hey!” Claire shouts. “This is what they want, us turning on each other.”

“I trusted you,” Danny fumes.

“You can still trust me,” Colleen says, her voice shaking.

“She’s not lying,” Mattie says. “She’s just as surprised as you are.”

“You don’t even know us!” Danny yells.

“No, but I know when someone’s lying.”

With a strangled yell, Danny stalks a few steps down the sidewalk and kicks at some litter.

“Danny, calm down,” Luke says.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Danny growls.

“I don’t know if you recall that conversation upstairs, but the people we care about are suddenly in a lot more danger. We need to calm down and think of a plan.”

“Well, your cop friend’s out, since you mentioned her upstairs,” Jessica says.

“Maybe the location, but the plan itself doesn’t have to change,” Mattie says. “How much property does Danny own?”

“No, the Hand infiltrated the company years ago,” Colleen says. “They might still have records about his assets.”

“Yeah, anything under his name or the company’s will be the first places they look,” Jessica says.

“Our names, too,” Luke says. “Not that I have anything under my name right now.”

“We’re not going to my mom’s,” Claire says.

“All of the Chaste’s safe houses have been attacked by the Hand,” Jacques says.

“Shit,” Jessica says.

“What?” Mattie says.

“Place built like a fortress, not under any of our names?”

The lightbulb goes on in Mattie’s head. “Oh.”

“I know someone who can help.”


	3. Gimme Shelter

Trish Walker is a gracious hostess, even when faced with three superpowered vigilantes, one pregnant off-duty vigilante, and an assortment of associated civilians and martial arts experts. Even though it’s nearly midnight, she puts out cheese and crackers and hummus, and a selection of juices.

“Jesus, Trish, it’s not a cocktail party,” Jessica says wearily.

“It gives them something to do,” Trish says. “Instead of staring awkwardly at each other.”

Danny is pacing on the balcony, while Colleen stands quietly with her arms crossed. Luke and Claire have retreated to Trish’s office; Mattie can hear them debating the merits of telling Detective Knight about the situation. Jacques is in the gym, meditating. Or maybe just grieving for Quinn. Becca is in the armchair, headphones on as she taps furiously at her phone, while Malcolm sits opposite her, pretending to read the magazine Trish had left on the coffee table. Karen and Ben are sitting on the kitchen stools, eating cheese and hummus.

On the couch, Mattie leans against Foggy, who wraps his arm around her shoulders. She closes her eyes drowsily, sinking into the softness of the cushions and Foggy’s body next to her.

She jerks awake. Trish and Jessica are arguing over whether Trish should go to the studio in the morning.

“Hey, Trish?” Foggy calls. “Do you have somewhere Mattie can lie down?”

“Sure, use the bedroom, I’m probably not going to sleep tonight,” Trish says.

“I don’t need to lie down,” Mattie says.

“Sure, and you weren’t asleep for the past ten minutes,” Foggy says, pulling her to her feet. “Come on.”

He bundles her into the bedroom, and she’s out before he’s taken her second shoe off. When she wakes up, she’s confused for many reasons. Why is her skin on fire? Why doesn’t anything smell right? Why is _Karen_ snoring beside her? Then she smells Trish on the pillow under her head, and remembers.

Midland Circle. Quinn’s death.

_You expect us to help you?_

Another name in the too-long list of people who are dead because of her.

She stumbles out to the living room. Any vaguely comfortable piece of furniture has been commandeered as a sleeping surface, but even that leaves Colleen with a nest of couch cushions in the corner that Mattie nearly trips over. Foggy and Ben are in Trish’s office, laptops out. Mattie runs her hand over Foggy’s hair and kisses the top of his head.

“I think I slept with Karen,” she says.

“Told you we should never have hired a hot secretary,” he says, putting his arm around her waist. He turns his head and kisses her belly. “Hey, baby.”

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Nah, I’m still on a weird sleep cycle. I’ll probably crash in a few hours.”

“Bed’s free, if you want it.”

“Karen’ll love that.”

On the other side of Trish’s desk, Ben laughs softly.

“You get any sleep, Ben?” Mattie says.

“I’m too old to be sleeping in chairs,” he says, stretching his back so that his spine crackles. “And I’ve done longer nights than this.”

Mattie listens to the people filling the apartment, and realizes that two are missing.

“Where’re Jess and Trish?” she says.

“Went to the studio,” Ben says. “Trish thought it might throw our friends off the scent.”

Mattie nods. If Trish is going to work as normal, it might convince the Hand that she’s not hiding their rag-tag support network.

“Jess is keeping an eye on her?” she says.

“Yeah,” Foggy says.

Mattie drops her lips to Foggy’s head. Which reminds her what her mouth tastes like.

“Hey, did you pack my toothbrush?” she says.

“Who are you married to?” he says. When she’d grabbed him at home, before he could go to work, he’d insisted on packing a bag for them. She’d been convinced that Elektra was about to kick down the door, so she’d been less than patient with him.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” She kisses his head. “Where is it?”

“I put it next to the couch. Want me to get it out?”

“I’ll find it. I’m going to grab a shower while everyone’s asleep.”

Not everyone. She passes Jacques, sitting with his back against the front door, sai at the ready. Inside the gym, she can hear Trish’s Google Home playing 90s hip-hop, and the movement of Danny’s body through space. But no-one bothers her as she turns on the shower and lets the water make her feel generally more human. 

As she rummages through the bag for her toothbrush and a change of clothes, her hand closes on a familiar object. She runs her hand through the bag, and finds the other one. Both clasped in her hand, she pulls out her clubs, feeling the weight of them, like her arm is whole again.

_Foggy, what are you doing?_

She drops the clubs from a shaking hand.

_You have to keep the baby safe._ Except, she charged after Jessica when the gunfire started. Except, she led Danny Rand to the Chaste. Except, the Hand will cut through them to get to Danny, and Alexandra has apparently decided that Mattie is the first in line.

Except, she desperately wants to pick up the clubs and start swinging.

Her thoughts are roiling as she dresses and brushes her teeth, and she barely notices that Danny is on the other side of the door before she opens it.

“Mattie,” he says quietly.

“Danny. Did you want to use the bathroom?”

“Uh, yeah. Probably should.”

She steps into the hall. “All yours.”

“Can I ask you something?”

She shrugs. “Sure.”

“Who are you? Really?”

She considers telling him the truth. “I’m just a lawyer,” she says.

“A blind lawyer, who’s connected to two superheroes and the Chaste.” He doesn’t say it as an accusation, just bald facts.

“Sure, you can put it like that.”

“Who can hear when someone’s lying. And who’s faced the Hand before.”

“I know what they’re capable of.”

“You expect me to believe that you’re just…”

“I’m just me,” she says. It’s the most truth she’s ever told him.

His shoulders slump a little, and he nods.

“I just nodded,” he says. “Elektra.”

“What about her?”

“You said they brought her back.”

Mattie nods.

“When they brought Harold back,” Danny continues, “Ward - Ward, he said that he came back wrong. That…something was missing.”

“I know, she didn’t remember me -“

“It’s more than that. You said you cared about her, but she might not be the person you knew. Not anymore.”

“Maybe not all of her. But part of her is still in there.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I do,” she says, “because I’m still alive.” She walks away, back to Foggy.

They listen to _Trish Talk_ as it airs; Mattie eats microwaved dumplings from the battered container they took from the restaurant. Mattie half-expects the broadcast to be cut off by a Hand attack, but the show goes on without incident. Jessica and Trish arrive with a breakfast spread, and there’s a bottleneck as everyone tries to use the bathroom at the same time, but it’s otherwise civil.

After breakfast, Mattie joins Luke, Danny, Jessica, Claire, and Colleen in Trish’s office.

“So what’s our move?” Danny says.

“Way I see it, we’ve only got one,” Mattie says.

“She’s right,” Luke says. “We need to keep you as far away from the Hand as we can.”

“No,” Danny says. “I’ve dedicated my life to this fight. I can’t just -“

“Just what?” Mattie snaps. “Stay put? Safe, where we know you can’t be used by them?” 

“You don’t understand -“

“You really think that?” She steps in, tilting her face up to him. “You want to walk out and get yourself grabbed by the Hand, you go through me first.”

“I’m not going to hit you,” says Danny, sounding appalled.

“Good to know. Because I will hit you.”

“That’s not going to be necessary,” Colleen says pointedly, taking Danny’s arm.

“Look, there’s a half-dozen people out there who need someone to protect them,” Claire says. “That’s just as important. And something a magic fist is pretty useful for.”

Danny turns away, running his hands through his hair.

“What about the rest of us?” Luke says.

“We need to know what Alexandra’s planning,” Mattie says.

“All the answers seem to be at Midland Circle.”

“Yeah, well, we barely got out of there alive, so we’re going to need more than that,” Jessica says.

“I can go talk to Misty, see what she’s got on the Harlem side,” Luke says.

“Yeah, the only lead we had was John Raymond, and all he said was that they were trying to take down the city. Which probably has something to do with the forty-foot -“

“Forty-story,” Mattie corrects her.

“Forty-story hole underneath it,” Jessica finishes.

“What?” Danny says.

“I found it, when it was still a construction site,” Mattie says. “I’m guessing whatever the Hand wanted with the location, it has to do with that. To the point that the architect was stockpiling explosives, and blew his brains out to stop the Hand from getting to him.” She shrugs. “We talked to his wife, she didn’t know anything.”

“Maybe not the wife,” Jessica says.

“What, you think the daughter knows something?”

“She wasn’t there when we talked to the wife.”

“OK, I’ll head up to Harlem, you two go talk to the daughter,” Luke says

“What do we do?” Claire says.

“Sit on him,” Luke says, waving a hand at Danny.

“Let’s go,” Mattie says, nudging Jessica.

“Uh-uh,” Jessica says. “Pregnant chick stays here.”

“That’s not -“ Mattie starts.

“Alexandra thinks you’re the weak link,” Jessica says.

“You know I can take care of myself,” Mattie growls.

“Not the point. You’re easier to spot than any of _them_.” Jessica jerks a thumb over her shoulder, towards the main room.

“You need me. You’re terrible with kids, you’ve said so yourself. You really think she’ll tell you anything?”

Mattie hears Jessica suck in a breath as she puts it together herself.

“Becca!” they call together.

Jessica insists that Becca put her back against a nondescript wall when she FaceTimes Lexi Raymond, so Becca sits on the floor in the hall, while Jessica leans against the wall, and Mattie prowls next to them. Malcolm hovers on the other side, where the hall opens into the main room.

“…he stopped eating with us,” Lexi says. “He stopped eating, period. He’d sit at the piano sometimes, but he wouldn’t play. Not like he used to. He didn’t do anything like he used to.” 

_Piano?_

“What’re you thinking?” Jessica mutters in an undertone.

“Becca, can you ask Lexi to show us the piano?” Mattie says.

“Lexi, Mattie’s asking if we can see the piano?” Becca says.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Lexi says. Over the phone, Mattie can hear movement as Lexi carries the phone through the house. “Here it is.”

“It looks…like a piano,” Jessica says.

“What kind?” Mattie says.

“Old?”

“Baby grand,” Becca says.

“Yeah, it’s an antique,” Lexi says sadly. “My dad had it restored a few years ago.”

“Can you ask her to…play some scales, or something?” Mattie says.

“Where is this going?” Jessica says.

“Just go with it.”

“Lexi, they’re wondering if you can play some scales, or something?” Becca says.

“Ok…” Lexi says. There’s a loud click as she opens the cover, then C major scales, one octave up. “I don’t know what you guys are looking for…” The scales slide down to B major, then B-flat major.

“Did you hear that?” Mattie says. “D-sharp?”

Lexi plays the note three times.

“There’s something rustling…” she says. Over the phone, there’s the sound of wooden pieces clacking, then paper.

“She’s opening up the piano cover,” Jessica says.

“It’s…plans,” Lexi says.

“Is there a project name on them?”

_We already know what project it was._

“It says Midland Circle. Why would he -“

“He didn’t want them to fall into the wrong hands,” Jessica says. “I’m going to come and get them from you.”

“And yours are the right ones?”

“Trust us,” Becca says. “Jess and Mattie…they’re the good guys.”

“Give me the phone,” Jessica says. Becca hands it over. “Lexi, the people your dad was trying to hide these from, they’re dangerous. I’m going to arrange for some protection for you and your mom -“

“I thought you already did that,” Lexi says.

“What?”

“The car across the street? My mom said that must’ve been you.”

“Shit,” Mattie breathes.

“Lexi, wait there for your mom,” Jessica says. “Don’t let anyone into the house except for me.” She tosses the phone back to Becca.

“Becca, what -“ Lexi says.

“Just trust us!” Becca says. “I’ll talk to you soon.” She ends the call as Jessica pulls on her leather jacket. Mattie is already halfway into the main room.

“What’re you doing?” Jessica says.

“They’re in trouble,” Mattie says.

“Yeah, I got it. Sword Chick, you’re up! You -“ Jessica grabs Mattie’s arm, “- stay and keep Richie Rich here.”

“What’s going on?” Colleen says.

“Field trip. Bring the sword.”

They’re gone in a moment, leaving Mattie standing in the hallway.

“It seems to me,” Jacques says, standing behind her, “you want to hit something.”

“Are you offering?” she says.

“Yes.”

“Your ribs are still cracked. Can’t put you out of commission completely.” She walks back to the main room, where Foggy is yawning.

“Where’ve Jess and Colleen gone?” he says.

“Following a lead,” she says bitterly. “Is there anything to eat?”

Because apparently stress-eating is the best she can do.

It’s only an hour later when Becca’s phone rings. She brings it out to Mattie on the balcony, holding it in front of Mattie’s face.

“Lexi, slow down,” Mattie says.

“Jessica got arrested, just across the street,” Lexi says. “She and this other girl were fighting the guys in the car, and the cops showed up.”

_Shit._ “Did everyone else get arrested to?”

“Just the girl with Jessica. The other guys, they ran when the cops showed.”

“OK. OK, Lexi, I’m going to take care of Jess, but you’ve got a window here. Is your mom home yet?”

“Yeah, she just got in.”

“Good. Grab her, tell her that you and she need to get somewhere safe. Take her to the Midtown North precinct, and ask for Detective Brett Mahoney. You got that?”

“Midtown North, Detective Mahoney.”

“Give him the plans, he’ll get them to us. Be careful.”

She hands the phone back to Becca.

_Sometimes, I wonder what an uneventful life is like._

She has to tell the rest of the group what has happened, but is cut off in the middle of the briefing by Luke calling her to tell her that he just saw Jessica and Colleen being brought into the Harlem precinct.

Harlem. Of course.

“Let me talk to Misty,” she says.

She hears Luke hand the phone over.

“Knight here,” comes Misty’s voice.

“Detective, it’s Mattie Murdock.”

“I know.”

“Look, I know that Luke must have told you that your organized crime case is a lot bigger than you originally thought -“

“We’ve been discussing it.”

“Then I need you to let Jessica Jones and Colleen Wing go.”

“Ms Murdock, this is the third time in…how many days? - that Jessica Jones has been involved in some sort of crime scene. Not to mention that Colleen Wing already _has_ a lawyer -“

“What? Who?”

“She called Jeri Hogarth the minute she got here.” Knight sounds as enamoured of Jeri as Mattie is.

“Look, Detective, we’ve been personally threatened by the organization you’re investigating -“

“If that’s the case, then we can offer you protection.”

“We’re safe, for now, but your precinct is not. They know about your connection to Luke; it is a huge risk to keep Jessica and Colleen there.”

“Then tell your friends, and I mean Luke too, to give me everything you have on this organization. I have the full resources of the NYPD at my disposal - hold on - what was that?”

“What was what?” Mattie says loudly.

“Lights just went out,” comes Luke’s voice. “It’s them.”

“Get Jessica and Colleen and get out of there,” Mattie says.

“Yeah.”

Luke ends the call as Mattie covers her mouth, holding in a scream.

“Mattie, what’s going on?” Danny says, hovering by her shoulder.

“They killed the lights in the precinct,” Mattie says, clutching the phone.

“They’re under attack,” Trish says.

“We have to go help them,” Danny says.

“No,” Mattie says, her voice hard. “It’s a trap. They want you to go after them.”

“I can’t just stay here while they’re -“

“I know!” she shouts. “I know. I know you feel useless and helpless, because we all do. But we have a plan, and we have to stick to it, otherwise we lose everything.”

“Colleen could get killed.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.” Foggy has to hear the pain in her voice, because he’s there beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

“She’s good, Danny,” Claire says. “You know that. If anyone’s getting out of this, it’s the three of them.”

Danny lets out a huge breath, and stalks to the gym. A moment later, Mattie can hear him taking on Trish’s punching bag.

She’d like nothing better than to go in there and help him.

“Whatever’s happening, we still need someone to go to Midtown North,” she says.

“I’ll go,” Foggy says quietly. “I don’t really stand out there.”

Mattie nods as her stomach clenches.

“Trish, can you go with him?” she says.

“Yeah,” Trish says tightly.

“What about the rest of us?” Malcolm says.

“Stay here. Stay safe,” Mattie says. What else can they do?

Danny is running through katas when she slips into the gym.

“They’re going to pick us off, one by one,” he says. “Until it’s just you and me.”

“That does seem like their plan,” she says.

“We have to stop them. We have to do something.”

“We will come up with something. John Raymond hid the Midland Circle plans for a reason, there might be something in there that we can use.”

“And if there isn’t?”

“Then we come up with something else.”

Danny elegantly kicks the heavy bag in the corner, and lands, breathing heavily, and Mattie realizes that he’s close to tears.

“I hate this, too,” she says quietly.

Danny hesitates, then his hand brushes her shoulder, and he pulls her into an embrace. He smells of sweat and day-old clothes, and that faint electric aroma that always surrounds him.

“They’re going to be OK,” she whispers.

“Yeah,” he lies.

He lets her go.

She waits on the balcony, listening for Trish and Foggy’s return. Claire brings her a cup of herbal tea, and sits with her for a while, not saying anything.

“Jessica. Jessica. Jessica,” her phone blares.

Inside, she can hear everyone gathering, probably staring at her as she fishes her phone out of her pocket.

“Jess, are you OK?” she says.

“I’m fine,” Jessica says. “Luke’s fine. Colleen’s hurt, it’s not bad.”

“What happened?”

“The Hand. That guy Bakuto chopped off Misty Knight’s arm.” Jessica sounds exhausted.

“What?”

“I know. It was fucked up. He went after Colleen, Knight was trying to get her cuffs off, and he cut her arm off before Colleen could get out of them. He’s dead, by the way.”

“Wait, where are you?”

“Harlem Hospital Center. Knight’s in surgery. Hogarth’s talking them into dropping any charges against Colleen while she’s getting patched up.”

“Are you still in custody?”

“Honestly? Can’t tell.”

Mattie weighs the options; Knight might still need protecting, and she knows how vulnerable hospitals can be, but they also need to regroup and come up with a plan to hit back.

“Don’t ask for permission,” she says. “Get Luke and come back.”

“What about Colleen?”

“Tell her to stay there and keep Knight covered.”

There’s a pause.

“Right,” Jessica says. “See you in a few.”

Mattie pockets her phone, and goes inside to update the group. Claire, the only one present who knows Misty Knight, is shaken, but the rest are relieved. Jacques nods and retreats to his post at the front door.

“This is good, right?” Danny says, following Jacques with Mattie next to him. “One of the Fingers is dead?”

“Very good,” Jacques says. His ribs are still creaking, and he must be in pain, but his voice doesn’t betray it. “Colleen must be…very good…to have defeated him.”

“Or very angry,” Danny says, and he sounds a little smug.

Mattie hears a jingle of keys outside the door. The lock scrapes, and Jacques draws a sai. Danny gently pushes Mattie behind him. Mattie smiles to herself, and refrains from telling them that it’s all right.

“Did you hear anything?” Trish says as she opens the door.

“They’re OK,” Mattie says. “Colleen killed one of the Hand leaders, and she got hurt, but Jess said she’s fine. Jess and Luke are on their way back.”

Foggy steps around Danny to hug her, and she lets herself melt into his arms for a moment.

“Well, let’s get a look at these plans!” Trish says brightly, hanging up her jacket. Mattie turns to follow her when she hears the elevator stopping on Trish’s floor. The doors open, and Mattie hears the movement of air, but no sound of heartbeats.

“Something’s wrong,” she says.

“Mattie?” Danny says, but she holds up a hand. 

The roof. She can hear the faint scraping of metal on concrete, then a rustle of fibres falling to -

“Danny, the balcony!” she shouts.

He runs into the main room as the first ninja drops onto the balcony. On the other side of the front door, someone tries to kick it in, but the reinforced steel holds.

Jacques and Trish are hot on Danny’s heels as Foggy pulls Mattie into Trish’s bedroom, where the rest of the group have sheltered. Karen and Malcolm slam the doors shut, while Ben and Becca push a dresser in front of the doors. The pounding on the front door doesn’t stop.

“Shit,” Mattie mutters into Foggy’s shoulder, as she realizes that her clubs are in the bag next to the couch. Out with the ninjas. Foggy’s arm tightens around her shoulders. Claire places herself to the side of the doors, fists at the ready. Karen pulls a gun from her purse, holding it with grim confidence, and for a fleeting moment, Mattie misses Frank Castle. 

In the main room, Mattie can hear Danny, Trish, and Jacques taking on the ninjas who dropped onto the balcony. Three against four, not bad odds, especially with Danny on their side. Mattie smells electricity in the air, and that sensation of a gathering storm, and one of the Hand ninjas is down, but then she hears Elektra drop to the balcony, _wakizashi_ ringing against each other as she draws them.

Jacques lunges at her with his sai, and Mattie hears her breath catch, before there’s a scraping sound, and flesh against flesh, and metal sinking into a body, and Jacques flies through the bedroom doors, smashing through wood and plastic, and knocking the dresser askew.

Claire and Mattie drag Jacques away from the door as Karen fires through the hole.

“I don’t think she likes the sai,” Jacques gasps.

“You think?” Mattie manages. “His lung is punctured,” she says to Claire, who is already pulling gloves from the bag at her feet.

“My lucky day,” Claire mutters. She starts snapping orders at Foggy and Malcolm to put pressure on this and hand her that, and in the chaos, Mattie feels Elektra coming closer, like a cold breath across the back of her neck.

She stands just as Elektra kicks the remnants of the door in. Mattie swings her fist around in a roundhouse punch, and Elektra takes the hit, dropping her swords. She grabs Mattie by the front of her shirt, dragging her into the living room.

The pounding on the front door finally stops, for a blessed moment of relief, then there’s a crash as Mattie hears the whole door and frame smash inwards. More Hand. More enemies. Mattie recognizes the old woman, Gao.

There’s no time to think. It’s just instinct and training, now. Mattie can hear Foggy screaming her name, but she and Elektra are rolling on the floor together, each trying to flip on top. They barely miss Danny, who leaps over the couch to try to block the new invaders at the door. Elektra reaches up, and grabs the back of Mattie’s hair, pulling her close.

“Matilda,” she says, in that way that Mattie knows means she’s smiling. “It’s good to see you.”

“This isn’t you,” Mattie says. “Don’t do this.”

“It’s our only chance,” Elektra says, and then she twists, trying to pin Mattie under her, but Mattie rolls away, bouncing to her feet. Elektra swipes at her with a fist as she rises, and Mattie bobs and weaves to avoid being hit, brutally aware of how vulnerable she is, how she can’t afford to take a hit to her body.

Across the room, Danny is blasted into a wall, falling motionless to the ground. Trish is bleeding, but still fighting.

Elektra backs Mattie onto the balcony, boxing her in and trapping her in the corner. Mattie ducks under her arm as it swings and jabs at her side, but Elektra manages to grab her with a free hand, and pulls her in tight, Mattie’s back against her front. Her arm tightens around Mattie’s throat, and Mattie hears her own blood being blocked in her throat. She’s only vaguely aware of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones arriving before the world on fire flickers violently, and disappears.


	4. Sympathy for the Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I had to have this chapter title. :)

Mattie’s cold, wherever she is. Cold and damp, lying on wet ground. Her head is pounding, and her shoulders ache, and she realizes that her hands are tied behind her back. Groaning, she tries to get a knee under herself to sit up.

_The baby._

The baby is fine, heart humming inside her. Safe.

She can’t hear New York, and for a moment, she’s terrified that she’s been taken out of the city, somewhere so far she’ll never find her way home. But the stone walls stretch above her to the height of a skyscraper, and she realizes where she must be.

Midland Circle.

There’s only one other person down here with her.

“Elektra,” she croaks as she levers herself into a sitting position. The rope around her hands is attached to the wall behind her.

Elektra stops pacing, but doesn’t answer her.

“That was your name,” Mattie says. “You remember that, don’t you?”

“Elektra Natchios,” Elektra says, perfectly precise in every syllable.

“Yes.” Mattie’s heart is hammering. She can hear voices, forty stories up. “Elektra, you spent your _life_ fighting the Hand, whatever Alexandra’s told you -“

“Alexandra is dead.”

Mattie has nothing to say to that.

“Murakami killed her,” Elektra continues, her tone light. “With the support of the others.”

“So, this whole thing wasn’t an alliance. It was a coup.”

“Yes.”

“So what happens to you?” _And what happens to me?_

Elektra kneels down, and uses her sleeve to wipe some of the mud off Mattie’s face. The machinery next to them squeals to life, the noise thrumming forty stories up the shaft.

“Murakami has promised me a place at his side. And I can have you. We can be together, Matilda, but I need you to trust me.”

Part of Mattie, the part that doesn’t want to throw her head forward and break Elektra’s nose, is actually flattered. For about half a second.

“So I’m your _prize_?” she spits. “Jesus Christ.” And she starts to laugh, dry and cold. “You know, I thought that the Elektra I knew was somewhere in there, but clearly, I was wrong.”

“I _am_ Elektra -“

“Elektra and I spent our _lives_ having men treat us like weapons to be used.”

Elektra cups Mattie’s face with both hands.

“This is our chance. We just have to take it.”

Mattie shakes her head. “We lost that a long time ago.”

She finally identifies what the machine is: an elevator. A single car is on its way down, already halfway there.

“Your bosses are on their way,” Mattie says. Elektra doesn’t move. “What - whatever happens, you have to remember: we’re not _things_ , Elektra. We’re not prizes to be won, or weapons to be wielded. You have to understand that.”

Elektra stands and turns toward the elevator, and Mattie furiously brushes her cheek against her shoulder, wiping away the tears.

She can recognize Danny’s heartbeat, and Murakami, Sowande, and Gao. A group of fighters, crowded around the gurney holding Danny upright.

“Mattie!” Danny calls.

“Danny?”

“They hurt you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Enough,” Sowande says. Murakami issues orders in Japanese, and Danny is wheeled past Mattie and Elektra. Mattie hears Danny hold his breath for a second as they stop in front of the wall opposite the elevator. The elevator starts to climb again.

“What…” he starts.

“The Iron Fist Wu Ao-shi sealed this door, before your ancestors had even set foot on this land,” Gao says. “She left this message, that only the power of the Iron Fist may open it.”

“What’s behind it?” Danny growls.

“Immortality,” says Sowande.

There’s a pause.

“You expect me to open it?” Danny says.

“We expect you to act with reason,” Gao says smoothly.

“I’ll never help you.”

“We all desire to see K’un-Lun again,” Murakami says in heavily accented English. “What is behind that door may assist us all in that quest.”

“You destroyed K’un-Lun.”

“Alexandra wished you to believe so.”

“And where is Alexandra?”

“Dead.”

“You killed her?”

“It was our consensus,” Gao cuts in. “Alexandra had become irrational. And allowing the loss of Bakuto was unforgivable.”

Danny scoffs softly.

“We are the Hand now,” Sowande says. “And we will not ask you again, Iron Fist.”

“Never,” Danny pronounces.

Murakami barks an order in Japanese. Elektra doesn’t say a word, but she slashes the rope tying Mattie’s hands together, and drags her to her feet.

“Elektra -“ Mattie starts, but Elektra’s fingers are digging into her arm as she’s hauled toward the sealed door. Elektra throws her against the hard surface, facing the three fingers of the Hand. 

“Leave her alone!” Danny is shouting. She can hear him struggling against the straps holding him prisoner.

“Danny, whatever happens, don’t give them what they want,” she says. 

Mattie smells it before she realizes what has happened. The herbal scent, just like that first time she was at Midland Circle, when Stick rescued her. Just like the arrow that pierced Foggy’s shoulder.

She only realizes she’s bleeding after she identifies the smell. She puts her hand to her abdomen, over the slash.

“No…” she whispers.

Gao holds the knife up so Danny can see it, as Murakami barks another order at Elektra, throwing his arm out to block her from stumbling forward.

“You know our poisons well,” Gao says. “A wound so small, she will survive for days. But the child inside her…less than an hour, before the poison reaches it.”

Mattie can’t think except about the heartbeat thrumming inside her. _Stay alive. Stay alive._

She throws her hand out, catching Gao’s shoulder, and she drags the small woman towards her.

“You hurt my baby, and I will make _Kill Bill_ look like a documentary,” Mattie snarls.

“It is not for me to decide,” Gao says, and her arm twists, and Mattie lands in the mud, still pressing her hand to her side.

_Stay alive. Stay alive._

“Don’t do this,” Danny pleads.

“Elektra, do something!” Mattie shouts.

_Concentrate. Slow your heart rate._ She breathes in deep gasps, trying to find a centre that’s slipping away. _Our Father, who art in Heaven…_

“You can save them both,” Sowande says.

_…hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven._

“Let me help her!” Danny shouts.

“Only if you open the door,” Sowande says.

_Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses…_

She could beg Danny to do it. He’s the only one who would listen to her pleading, and somehow, everyone believes he can save her baby. And she would condemn them all.

_…as we forgive those who trespass against us._

“I’ll do it,” Danny says, and Mattie would burst into tears if she weren’t already crying. She can hear the straps being loosened, Danny stepping off the gurney. “Mattie, it’s OK. Everything’s going to be OK.” He’s lying.

“Danny…” she manages.

“Just hang on.” He steps up next to her, and there’s that feeling again, of a gathering storm, and Danny hits the door above her. It fractures, and Danny turns around. Murakami nods and Danny drops to his knees, turning her and cradling her against his chest. “Hey, hey…” he whispers.

“Danny, please…”

He holds her tight, his forehead against hers.

“This is probably going to feel a little weird.” He gently puts his hand next to hers, where she’s holding the wound, and she feels something electric connecting them. Every breath she takes feels like the pure essence of _life_ building up inside her, until it burns. And she can feel Danny, and her child, and for a perfect moment she’s the man, the woman, and the child all at once, and she can feel Danny’s fear for her, and something like love binding them together.

She might have passed out. She’s not certain. Danny is barely awake, still holding her, and the connection is gone, but she can feel the chi he poured into her, filling her like liquid electricity.

“I’ll take it from here,” she whispers as he slumps to the ground.

She stands, and the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen smiles.

Sowande reaches out and grabs her arm, and she lets the devil out, fast and vicious. She smells copper in the air as her nails draw blood, and the devil screams for more. She kicks out, and he lands in the mud.

“Never,” she growls at Gao and Murakami, “mistake disability for weakness.”

Murakami snarls something that sounds like “Stick”, but he’s cut off by the blade protruding from his chest. Elektra says something in the same language, silky-smooth, and pulls the sai out of his back. A flick of her arm, and his head drops away from his body.

“That was the plan?” Mattie says.

“It was originally a little more subtle,” Elektra says, raising her bloody sai.

Mattie grins as the warriors of the Hand step forward. “I never liked subtle.”

She has the chi of the Iron Fist flowing through her, feeding the devil curled around her heart, and she’s going to make every last one of them pay for threatening her child.

The Hand’s first attack breaks against them, on Elektra’s sai and Mattie’s fists. 

_Hello, old friend_ , she greets the devil as it rises, clawing for more blood, and she sets it free.

The first wave fades away, and Sowande is staggering to his feet, next to Gao. Above them, the elevator is starting another descent.

“The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen,” Gao says. “I confess my surprise.”

Mattie nods to the assembled warriors. The ninjas, they can take. But Gao and Sowande together… 

“Leave. Now. Before more of your people are hurt,” she says.

“They are loyal to the cause,” Gao says.

“Unlike the Black Sky,” Sowande mutters.

“They will serve us however they are needed,” Gao continues.

“You will not pass through this door,” Elektra says.

“You cannot hope to stop us,” Sowande says.

“We can,” comes Danny Rand’s voice. He’s dragging himself to his feet, and he’s breathing hard, but his voice is steady. “We will.” 

Mattie smiles at that as Danny reaches her side. 

Gao raises her hand, and the battle is joined. Sowande attacks Elektra, and Danny charges Gao, leaving the hench-ninjas to Mattie. She holds her ground, landing punches and kicks on anyone who dares to enter her reach, but they keep coming, almost solidly surrounding her until she realizes she’s being backed away from the others. She dives into the space between two ninjas, retaking her position, just as she hears Jessica Jones’ voice screaming.

Jessica’s voice gets louder very fast, and Mattie barely realizes that she’s falling down the shaft before the combined weight of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones lands, sending a shockwave through the ground that knocks a few unwary ninjas off their feet. Jessica stumbles out of the crater in the mud.

“Hey, Mattie!” she calls, and she throws Mattie’s clubs. Mattie leaps and twists midair to catch them, and lands on a swing, sending a club straight into a ninja’s face. Jessica and Luke wade into the fray, tossing ninjas left and right. Danny flies backwards, thrown by the force that Gao commands, but he rolls and leaps to his feet. Sowande gurgles from a wound in his throat, and falls to his knees, and is promptly decapitated by Elektra.

Another wave of fighters pours off the elevator, and there’s a breath as they form ranks, facing the five defenders. Mattie twists her clubs together.

“You know, I’m really glad I met you guys,” she says.

“I’m not hugging you,” Luke says.

“Not yet.”

She feels the pull of Danny’s chi, and she knows that he’s lighting up the Iron Fist.

Rage is a wildfire, Stick once told her. He’d meant it as a warning. But wildfire spreads, and destroys everything in its path. Daredevil unleashes a mother’s rage on the Hand, and lets them burn.

Gao stays at the back this time, happy to throw bodies at them until they’re exhausted. It’s a crush of people, and Mattie just hits anything that moves. She has more than a few close calls, but she protects her abdomen, and keeps moving, letting her staff swing out to crush joints and break bones. She shoots her grappling line, twisting it around a ninja’s throat, pulling him off his feet. She stomps down, feeling the bones fracture under her fist, and untwists the line, whipping it into the next ninja.

“Get me to Gao!” Danny shouts at Luke as they move together, as if they’ve been fighting as a team all their lives. And he’s right, they need to take Gao down, and cut the head off the snake. But Elektra has other plans.

“Give me a boost!” she shouts, and Jessica throws her hand out, palm up, and Elektra leaps up, using Jessica’s hand as a springboard, and lets Jessica propel her over the scrum, landing elegantly.

“Black Sky -“ Gao starts, her tone never wavering. She raises her hand, but Elektra moves faster.

“My name is Elektra Natchios,” Elektra snarls, plunging both sai into the old woman’s chest.

For a moment, the Hand ninjas don’t realize the last of their leaders has fallen. Then Elektra shouts in Japanese. Most of the ninjas freeze, stepping away from the four defenders. The ones who don’t are promptly punched in the head or thrown back.

“The fingers of the Hand are dead,” Elektra declares. “I am the Black Sky. I am Elektra Natchios. The Hand is mine.”

_Fuck._

Mattie can feel the confusion rippling through the Hand fighters. Then one bows, and it’s a wave, spreading out until every one of them is bent at the waist. They straighten as one, and clear a path for Elektra as she strides through them.

Mattie steps up to face her.

“I didn’t realize this was part of the plan,” she says.

“You would have tried to stop me,” Elektra says casually.

“And now?”

“We still have a chance. It’s not too late.”

“It was always too late for us,” Mattie says, not without regret.

“I remember,” Elektra says. 

The moment stretches out, tight and dangerous.

“I’ll stop you, too,” Mattie says quietly, adjusting her grip on her clubs.

“I know,” Elektra says. She steps back, holding up her sai. “We’ll leave you, and this city.”

“How do we know you won’t come back?” Luke says.

Elektra pauses.

“Because she’s going to sell Danny the building,” Mattie says.

“What?” Danny says.

“At half the market value.”

“Full value,” Elektra snaps.

“After what just happened tonight?” Mattie snarls. “You’re lucky I’m offering anything.”

“How much…?” Danny says.

“You can afford it. Elektra?”

Elektra shifts, turning a sai idly.

“Agreed,” she says.

“Meet us at Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz on Monday morning to sign the paperwork.”

Elektra leads her warriors to the elevator. They gather up the bodies of Murakami, Sowande, and Gao as they leave, carrying them with them. As the car rises, Mattie feels the relief wash over her friends. She puts her hand on her abdomen, reassuring herself that the baby is alive.

“Did… you two jump down a forty-storey hole to get to us?” Danny says.

“Luke was pretty sure we’d survive,” Jessica says grimly.

“Elevator would’ve taken too long,” Luke says.

“But you had time to stop for a beer on the way?” Mattie says.

“Jesus…” Jessica mutters.

“We didn’t _stop_ -” Luke says.

“We took the subway -” Jessica says over him.

“- and Jessica stole a beer from a hobo.”

There’s a pause as Mattie and Danny absorb this.

“It’s been a long week,” Jessica says.

“OK…” Danny says.

“So…” Luke says. “Daredevil?”

“What about her?” Mattie says with a grin.

“You’re _Daredevil_?” Danny says.

“Wow,” Jessica says, dripping sarcasm. “Keep up, Iron Clad.”

“It’s Iron Fist.”

“Gotta say…it explains a lot,” Luke says. “Except the not telling part.”

“I’ve got people I need to protect,” Mattie says.

“And one more coming,” Danny says. He puts his hand on Mattie’s shoulder. “She’s OK?”

“She…?”

Nobody says anything for a moment, which probably means there are some very significant looks being tossed around.

“I mean,” Danny starts, “I’m not a hundred percent, I mean, masculine and feminine energy isn’t black and white, but…I think so.”

Mattie smiles, and puts her arms around Danny. “She’s fine,” she whispers against his neck. He squeezes her, and she remembers what it felt like to touch his chi, to feel his fear and doubt and hope and love.

“OK, this is all…sweet, and shit, but this is killing me,” Jessica says. “What the fuck’s this wall?”

“It’s a door,” Danny says, letting Mattie go.

“The Hand thought that it had…something to do with immortality,” Mattie says. “They were pretty vague.”

“They were pretty vague about a lot of things,” Danny says.

“So…we’re checking this out, right?” Luke says.

“Hell yeah,” Jessica says.

Between Luke and Jessica, they clear the broken pieces of the door away quickly, and all four of them step through the opening. The air smells stale, but also faintly of electricity, the way that Danny does.

“Sweet Christmas,” Luke says.

“You can say that again,” Jessica says.

“Somebody’s going to have to talk me through this,” Mattie says.

“Is it a… dinosaur?” Luke says.

“No,” Danny says, his voice filled with awe. “It’s a dragon.”

“Say what?” Mattie says.

“We’re standing in the middle of a goddamn dragon fossil,” Jessica says. She takes Mattie’s hand and presses it against something that feels like stone, and smells like it too, but when Mattie gets close, she can smell electricity and smoke.

“This is what they were after,” Danny says. “They would…use this? To gain immortality? Desecrate these remains for their own selfishness?”

Mattie nods. “Seems like it.”

Luke puts his hand on Danny’s shoulder.

“I think…we shouldn’t be here,” he says.

Danny nods, and they leave the dragon tomb in silence.

The elevator is already descending, the only sound to break the sombre mood.

“Foggy gave you these, didn’t he?” Mattie says, holding up her clubs.

“He said that you’d know what to do with them,” Jessica says.

“Is he OK?”

“Yeah,” Jessica says. “Yeah, he’s fine. Everyone’s fine.”

“Except Jacques,” Luke cuts in.

“Punctured lung. They took him to the hospital.”

Mattie nods.

“Oh, and Claire pretty much had to sit on Foggy to stop him from coming with us,” Jessica says.

Mattie smiles. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

“I think he was trying to get his cop friend to call the Avengers, or something, when we were leaving.”

“So…Iron Man’s about to swoop down on us?”

“If he got through.”

There’s no Iron Man. The building is eerily empty, and the streets outside are quiet. Mattie stops on the sidewalk, and breathes in, feeling her city, alive and safe.


	5. Epilogue: Time is On My Side

Alive and safe. 

Everyone’s alive and safe. Bone-crushing hugs are handed around as they arrive at the hospital. Foggy kisses her (with tongue) in the middle of everyone.

“The baby’s OK,” she says. He doesn’t say anything, just holds her tight. “And I think I have a bit of news on that front.”

There’s a medical checkup to be absolutely sure about the baby’s health, and police reports to be filed, and it’s the middle of the night by the time Mattie and Foggy reach home. Mattie pulls the clubs from where they’re tucked into the back of her pants, and drops them on the bed.

“So you got them,” Foggy says neutrally.

“Yup.” Mattie starts undressing. “You packed them.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Foggy hesitates, so she presses. “I thought you wanted me to stay out of all that.”

“Of course I did. Still do.” Foggy sits down on his side of the bed. “But…I figured if the Hand were after all of us, the baby would be safer if you were fighting, too.”

Mattie crawls over the bed and wraps her arms around Foggy. He brings his hands up to hers, holding her against his back.

“She’s OK,” Mattie whispers.

Foggy squeezes her hands.

“I’m still not convinced that it’s a she,” he says.

“This is one place where I think Danny knows what he’s talking about.”

“Danny Rand is not a licensed OB/GYN.”

“Which I’m sure is a very good thing.” She kisses his cheek, and pulls him down onto the bed.

On Monday morning, they assemble in the reception area of Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz: Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Mattie Murdock and Danny Rand. Jeri’s new assistant leaves them in a conference room with a pot of coffee and a jug of water.

“How do we know Elektra didn’t just go back for the dragon bones after we left?” Luke says.

“She wasn’t lying when she said she’d leave,” Mattie says.

“That, and I’ve had Rand security keeping an eye on the building,” Danny says. “Nobody’s gone in.”

“They’re going to want to clean it out, though,” Jessica says. “I wouldn’t want us poking around in their computers, for starters.”

“We can negotiate something like that,” Mattie says. “Danny, we should mention that to Jeri.”

“You’re not going to be the one negotiating?” Danny says.

Mattie shakes her head. “Jeri’s still your lawyer. I’m just here to advise you.”

“And we’re…” Luke says.

“Here to make sure Elektra doesn’t try to kidnap Danny again.”

Except that Elektra never arrives. Instead, it’s a woman who introduces herself as Maki Matsumoto, and says that Elektra left New York the night before. She’s authorized to negotiate on behalf of Midland Circle Financial, and she’s obviously been directed to accommodate Danny.

Papers are produced and signed, and Jeri leads Matsumoto out. Danny taps out something on his phone as Jessica nudges Mattie.

“Where’d you go?” Jessica says.

“Hm? Oh. No, it’s good,” Mattie says.

“You OK?”

“I’m fine,” Mattie says quietly. She should have known; Elektra never liked saying goodbye. It doesn’t make it any easier to let her go.

“Ward’s sending some security contractors to supervise the building clearing,” Danny says once his phone pings. “They’ll make sure nobody goes down the hole.”

“He knows about this?” Luke says.

“He has his reasons to hate the Hand,” Danny says.

“And then what?” Mattie says.

“What?”

“You own a skyscraper now.”

“With your very own magic dragon fossil in the basement,” Jessica interjects.

“What’re you going to do with it?”

Danny shifts in his chair.

“I…I need to figure out how to close that door again,” he says. “And make sure no-one can open it.” He shrugs.

“He shrugged,” Jessica says.

“I know,” Mattie says.

“I guess I’ll ask Ward what…you do with a skyscraper in Midtown,” Danny finishes.

Mattie reflects that Danny lives on a level none of them have ever contemplated, and as much as Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist, is their friend, there’s little they can suggest to Danny Rand, Real Estate Mogul.

Danny’s car takes them all to the hospital to visit Jacques and Misty Knight. Colleen is sitting in Misty’s room sharing a pot of Japanese tea, but Jacques’ room is empty. When Jessica points this out, the nurses swear up and down that he was there this morning, and no-one noticed him leaving. Hospital administrators are called, and Danny smooths things out by pulling out his black card.

Mattie stands in the empty room.

_Everyone leaves._

Except that’s not true. Not anymore. 

Jessica swings herself around the open doorway.

“The guys are going to stay and hang out with Misty and Colleen,” Jessica says.

“You staying with them?”

“Nah. Got…shit to do.”

Mattie nods. “I’ll go with you.”

At the office, Becca is behind the desk, and Malcolm is in the kitchen, and there’s a message from Aaron Jacobs’ mother waiting for her, and it feels like the world has settled back into place.

Two days later, Danny sends a car for Jessica and Mattie, which drops them outside Midland Circle. In the lobby, Danny is with Luke and a tall man who reeks of wealth; cologne and aftershave and spa treatments and hair products.

“Ward, these are Jessica and Mattie,” Danny says.

“Ward Meachum,” Ward says, offering Jessica his hand. She shakes it. “Very nice to meet you, Mattie.” He waits for her to offer her hand before shaking it, and Mattie is vaguely impressed.

“Likewise,” she says.

“Ward and Danny were discussing what they want to do with the building,” Luke says.

“Luke, didn’t see you there,” Mattie says with a grin.

Jessica snickers.

“Good to see you too,” Luke says dryly.

“So, is that why you dragged us over here?” Jessica says.

“We…have a proposal,” Danny says. Mattie cocks her head in interest. “Ward and I are going to set up a charitable foundation, which will have its head office here. Luke’s going to be in charge of community outreach, and he mentioned your _pro bono_ work, and we thought that you might want to keep doing that work as part of the foundation.”

“We can discuss salary and benefits,” Ward cuts in, “and you’d have a support team working for you.”

“That’s very generous,” Mattie says.

Jessica is shifting awkwardly.

“Yeah, that sounds great and all. Good luck,” she says, turning.

“Jess?” Danny says.

“We could always use an in-house PI,” Mattie says, reaching her hand out.

Jessica sighs. “Much as I like you, I don’t want to work for you. Sorry.”

“Even if you don’t want to work for the foundation, we can still offer you office space,” Danny says. “For free.”

“For a generous discount,” Ward says quickly.

“There’s a whole lot of space,” Luke says.

Jessica pauses. “This isn’t really about the foundation. You just want a clubhouse.”

“I just…like the idea of the four of us under one roof,” Danny says.

“So, a clubhouse.” Her head turns in Mattie’s direction.

“It would get Becca and Malcolm out of your place,” Mattie says.

“Fine!” Jessica says. “Fine. But the rent better be good.”

“We’ll work something out,” Ward says. 

“I do have one condition,” Mattie says.

“Of course,” Danny says.

“Child care on site. I’m going to need it come January.”

“We’ll put it in your contract,” Ward says. His phone beeps, and he checks it. “And I have to go take care of this, but lovely to meet all of you, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other.”

Danny takes them up the elevator while Ward leaves.

“I got the blueprints off of Trish,” he says, “and I saw this on them. I want to show you!” He’s excited, almost bouncing on his feet. When they near the top, Mattie can smell burgers and fries.

Danny leads them through the hallways, and Luke breaks off from the group. Mattie can hear the echo of their footsteps.

“No furniture?” she says.

“The Hand gutted the whole building,” Danny says. “Except for the pit. Don’t worry, we’ll get furniture for you.”

_We’re gonna have big, fancy offices one day, with steel and glass, and chairs you don’t even know how to sit in._

“What’re you smiling about?” Jessica says, unimpressed.

“Just life’s little quirks,” Mattie says.

Danny opens a door, and a fresh breeze wafts in. Mattie and Jessica step through the door, and for once, Jessica doesn’t have a smart remark.

“Rooftop garden,” Danny says.

There’s a water feature running through the small garden, and Mattie can smell anemones blooming.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Luke says, appearing in the door with a paper bag in his hand.

“Yeah,” Jessica says quietly.

“Soledad sent lunch down with me,” Luke says, holding up the bag. “Hope everyone likes burgers.”

There’s a small bench in the middle of the garden, but it only seats two. Luke tries to insist that Mattie sit on the bench, so she defiantly sits next to Danny on the wooden deck.

“So where’d you get the idea for this foundation?” Jessica says, once the burgers and sodas have been distributed.

“Uh, Luke, actually,” Danny says. “He…made me really think. About what I’m able to do. And then getting this place…The Hand built this so they could tear New York down. I want to use it to build it up. Heal the wounds.”

Mattie smiles and nudges Danny with her elbow.

“Let’s do it,” she says.

Luke raises his soda can in a salute. Jessica sighs.

“Whatever,” she says, not without fondness.

Mattie bites into the cheeseburger, and almost swoons.

“So,” she says, once she’s recovered herself, “Danny, Foggy and I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure,” he says.

“We were wondering if you’d be the baby’s godfather.”

Danny takes a moment. “Aren’t you Catholic? I thought Claire mentioned that.”

“I am. Foggy’s not.”

“I’m Buddhist?”

“Claire’s taking care of the whole Catholic godparent side. But we thought…given everything that happened…”

“I would be honored,” Danny says formally.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to name the baby Danielle, or something,” Jessica says.

“I like the name Danielle,” Luke says.

“No, it’s a little late for that,” Mattie says. “We already picked a girl’s name.” She nudges Danny. “If it were a boy, you _might’ve_ gotten middle name. Foggy wasn’t sold on Thurgood.”

“God, you’re such nerds,” Jessica says.

Mattie throws a french fry at her with pinpoint accuracy. It bounces off her forehead. Luke laughs, and Jessica punches him lightly (for her) on the arm.

“Easy!” Luke says, as he topples sideways.

“You can take it,” Jessica says.

“At least, that’s what the song says,” Mattie says.

Luke groans as he sits up.

“What song?” Danny says.

“You don’t know about Luke’s theme song?” Jessica says.

“It’s not about -“ Luke tries.

“Get out your phone and google ‘Bulletproof Love’ by Method Man,” Mattie says quickly.

“There is a wider social context -“

“Found it!” Danny crows as the music starts playing. “This is amazing!”

“Sweet Christmas,” Luke mutters.

They stay in the garden long after the burgers and sodas are finished. They make excuses to stay, to explore the building, to talk about security measures and to pick out offices. By the time the evening comes, Danny’s calling the Royal Dragon to order delivery to Colleen’s dojo, and everyone else is making calls to invite friends and family down. Some of them can’t make it. Most of them do.

Sometimes, people stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to all you readers and commenters - you've been awesome!


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